By the close of the initial comment period last Wednesday, the FCC had received well over one hundred responses to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) (DA 21-1453) on the new Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”). ACP is the successor program (see our newsletter of November 22nd) to the Emergency Broadband Benefit (“EBB”) program providing discounted internet access and connected devices to low-income families. ACP is a $14.2 billion program — more than four times the size of the earlier EBB program — authorized under the Infrastructure Act that the FCC is charged with implementing on an accelerated basis at the end of December. Not surprisingly, many of the comments dealt with issues related to fostering a smooth EBB-to-ACP transition.
Of longer-term importance to schools and libraries, the following set of comments focused on the need, partially addressed in the NPRM, for bulk billing arrangements whereby discounts could be applied to: (a) multiple dwelling units such as low-income housing complexes or homeless centers; or (b), multi-family subscription plans that could extend — and expand — school and library plans currently being funded under the ECF program. We direct your attention to the following comments:
California Emerging Technology Fund
City of Boston et al
City of Seattle
EducationSuperHighway
E-Rate Central and SHLB Coalition
Public Knowledge, Common Sense Media
Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future
T-Mobile USA
We encourage schools and libraries to support these positions in reply comments that are due by December 28th. Assuming that the FCC can be convinced to provide school and library support, interested parties might also want to participate in USAC-hosted ACP training sessions scheduled for later this week.
For schools and libraries that had previously encouraged eligible student families and library patrons to take advantage of the EBB discounts, we suggest reaching out again to those families and patrons to alert them of the coming transition. Although final ACP rules have not been finalized, the FCC did release an Order (DA 21-1524) last week waiving certain EBB rules and clarifying aspects of the EBB-to-ACP transition for participating EBB subscribers and suppliers. Last Friday, USAC released a summary of the FCC’s actions. For current or potential EBB participants, the key points are as follows.
- December 31st is the effective starting date for the ACP program.
- With a few exceptions (requiring reverification of eligibility), EBB subscribers will continue to receive internet discounts of up to $50 per month for an additional 60 days (through March 1, 2022) before being subject to the ACP program’s $30 per month cap.
- Eligible households, not currently EBB participants, will still be able to enroll in the EBB program until 6:00 p.m. EST on December 30th (thus making them eligible for the higher 60-day discount cap).
- EBB subscribers, currently limited to certain provider internet service packages, will henceforth be able to apply their EBB — and subsequently ACP — discounts to any of their service providers’ internet plans.