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A12 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 28 august 2023

Broadband subsidy program that

millions use will expire next year if

Congress doesn't act

By KAVISH HARJAI
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — One
of the features that Presi-
dent Joe Biden cited in his
plan to bring internet to ev-
ery home and business in
the United States by 2030
was affordability. But an
important federal program
established to keep broad-
band costs down for low-
income households is set to
expire next year.
The Affordable Connec- Kimberlyn Barton-Reyes, who is paraplegic and visually impaired,
tivity Program has not poses for a photo at a rehabilitation center, Wednesday, Aug.
reached everyone who is 23, 2023, in Austin, Texas. For Barton-Reyes, the Affordable
Connectivity Program is a lifeline and its one-time allocation of
eligible. According to an $14.2 billion is projected to run out by the middle of 2024. That
Associated Press analysis could end access to affordable broadband for her and more
of enrollment and census than 20 million households.
data, less than than 40% of (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
eligible households have
utilized the program, which from the Affordable Con- Secretary Tom Vilsack said
provides monthly subsidies nectivity Program. Barton- the program has already
of $30, and in some cases, Reyes, who said an autoim- proved itself.
up to $75, to help pay for mune issue damaged her "The Affordable Connec-
internet connections. vision, is working to get oth- tivity Program, the popu-
Still, the program has been er eligible Austin residents larity of it, I think, is the kind
a lifeline for Kimberlyn Bar- signed up, too. of thing that will create
ton-Reyes, who is paraple- But the program's future the political-level support
gic and visually impaired. is uncertain. Its primary necessary for Congress to
Barton-Reyes did not have source of funding, a $14.2 see that this is, at the end
to wait for an in-person ap- billion allocation, is project- of the day, an appropri-
pointment when a seizure- ed to run out by the middle ate utilization of resources,"
alert system disconnected of 2024. That could end ac- Vilsack said on a recent
from her electric wheel- cess to affordable broad- media call announcing
chair in November. band for millions of people new grants to bolster rural
The company that servic- and hinder the Biden ad- broadband.
es her chair assessed the ministration's push to bring Advocates say letting the
problem remotely, ordered connectivity to the people program expire could
the parts she needed and who need it most. damage the already tenu-
got the chair fixed quickly. "ACP is the best tool we've ous relationship between
"Most people are like 'Inter- ever had to help people af- consumers and internet
net is not a basic need,'" ford broadband," said Drew service providers just as the
said Barton-Reyes, who Garner, broadband policy nation embarks on an am-
lives in Austin, Texas. "It ab- advisor for Common Sense bitious plan to expand ac-
solutely is for me." Media. Advocacy groups cess nationally.
Barton-Reyes relies on So- are pushing Congress to Biden announced plans in
cial Security disability insur- extend the program. Enroll- June to distribute $42.5 bil-
ance for her income while ment in approximately 30 lion to ensure broadband
she takes part in a voca- states lags behind the na- access for every U.S. home
tional program for adults tional average. Louisiana and business. But inter-
who are newly blind. She is and Ohio have enrolled net service providers that
able to pay for her internet more than half of all eligi- bid on state contracts will
connection with an assist ble households. Agriculture want to be sure they have
customers.
Lawmakers from both par-
ties, as well as the White
House, support the pro-
gram. Affordable internet
was listed as a priority in an
Aug. 10 letter from Biden's
budget director, Shalanda
Young, to House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif.
Participation also straddles
the political divide.q