Republicans slam broadband discounts for poor people, threaten to kill program
JON BRODKIN - 12/19/2023, 6:28 PM
Republican members of Congress blasted a program that gives $30 monthly broadband discounts to people with low incomes, accusing the Federal Communications Commission of being "wasteful." The lawmakers suggested in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel that they may try to block funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is expected to run out of money in April 2024.
"As lawmakers with oversight responsibility over the ACP, we have raised concerns, shared by the FCC Inspector General, regarding the program's effectiveness in connecting non-subscribers to the Internet," the lawmakers wrote. "While you have repeatedly claimed that the ACP is necessary for connecting participating households to the Internet, it appears the vast majority of tax dollars have gone to households that already had broadband prior to the subsidy."
[...]
The letter questioned Rosenworcel's testimony at a recent House hearing in which she warned that
25 million households could lose Internet access if Congress doesn't renew the ACP discounts. The ACP was created by congressional legislation, but Republicans are wary of continuing it. The program began with $14.2 billion a little less than two years ago.
[...]
During her testimony, Rosenworcel said the ACP is providing discounts for over 22 million households and that the FCC expects that number to reach 25 million by April, based on enrollment trends. She also touted the ACP as "the largest broadband affordability effort in United States history."
"We have come so far, we can't go back," Rosenworcel told Congress. "We need Congress to continue to fund this program. If Congress does not, in April of next year, we'll have to unplug households and, based on current projections, it'll be about 25 million households we will unplug from the Internet in April."
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/202 ... l-program/
