Higher Incomes Now Eligible for Discounts on High-Speed Internet

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Inflation in the past year has caused a rise in income levels to qualify for the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a $14.2 billion initiative to help bring high-speed internet access to households that earn up to 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines.

The 2023 guidelines, released in January, raise the income limit for a single-person household in the continental United States and territories by nearly $2,000 to $29,160. Households with seven, eight or more members will be able to qualify with income topping $80,000, $90,000 and $100,000. And those who live in Alaska and Hawaii have higher income ceilings.

Hundreds of internet service providers in the U.S. and its territories are offering high-speed internet for no more than $30 a month through the Affordable Connectivity Program, now in its second year. More than 16.5 million lower-income households have already signed up as of March 13, an increase of almost 85 percent since the end of 2021.

“High-speed internet is not a luxury any longer. It’s a necessity,” President Biden said, comparing it to his grandfather’s need for a telephone as that technology evolved.

Nearly 40 percent of households in America qualify for the $30-a-month credit, which means “most folks will get on for nothing,” the president said. Census figures show that’s more than 50 million households. 

Among the hundreds of providers that are offering all ACP-eligible families at least one high-speed plan for $30 a month or less are huge carriers, including AT&T, Comcast, Cox Communications and Verizon (Fios only), and smaller providers, including IdeaTek in Kansas and Jackson Energy Authority in Tennessee.

Internet speeds at that price must be at least 100 megabits per second (Mbps) where a company’s infrastructure supports it. That’s fast enough for a family of four to work from home, browse the web and stream high-definition video, the administration says.

The FCC defines high-speed broadband as 25 Mbps for download speed and 3 Mbps for uploads. All of a company’s internet plans that meet the FCC standard are eligible for the subsidy.

How to find companies in your area

The broadband providers collectively offer discounted high-speed internet in areas where more than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives, including nearly 50 percent of the rural population, according to the White House. GetInternet.gov has details on how Americans can sign up for the ACP, and you can search for participating internet providers in your area at a second site that will give personalized information by typing in your zip code. Companies with a “Yes” in the “$0 with ACP” column have high enough speeds to qualify for the federal subsidy and low enough prices that low-income customers will get free internet.

The ACP doesn’t count the total number of people served through its program. It looks at households, not individuals, because utility bills serve addresses. While most heads of households in the program are age 18 to 49, almost 44 percent are 50 and older, a greater proportion than under the Emergency Broadband Benefit program available early in the pandemic.

The number of adults 85 and older in ACP topped 210,000 as of Jan. 1, the latest figures available. The percentage of the oldest adults in the program has been gradually rising past 1 percent since the subsidies began, and the number of subscribers 85 and older has nearly quadrupled since late 2021.

As of Jan. 1, more than 83 percent of participants in the Affordable Connectivity Program also qualified for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the federal government’s largest program for fighting hunger and food insecurity. Almost 72 percent qualified for Medicaid. 

“It’s become more important than ever before that we get every household everywhere reliable and consistent broadband access,” Jessica Rosenworcel, Federal Communications Commission chairwoman, told an AARP tele-town hall meeting last year. “I think that goes for young and old alike.

“But I think when it comes to older adults that we’re going to see a lot of the telemedicine policies and practices that were adopted in the pandemic are going to continue when we get to the other side,” she says. “And I think that’s going to make health care more accessible to older Americans.”

Dawit Kahsai, AARP’s government affairs director, said the organization “is pleased to see the commitment from the White House to ensure that high-speed internet is not only accessible but affordable for all Americans — including older adults.” AARP has championed high-speed internet access and digital literacy for all ages to help them connect with friends and family, work from home and see doctors remotely as well as shop and stream entertainment.

Additional subsidies and protections

Help for members of tribes. Households on Native American tribal lands qualify for benefits of up to $75 a month, an amount higher than the rest of the country because of the challenges of serving remote areas with less population density. Alaska, New Mexico and South Dakota are the states with the highest percentages of Native Americans, according to the 2020 census.

Territories eligible, too. Puerto Rico continues to have the highest rate of ACP enrollment per 1,000 households as of March 13, according to the website. It has the highest poverty rate among the 50 states, the District of Columbia and one territory that are part of the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey.

Louisiana, Kentucky, New Mexico and Ohio round out the top five for ACP enrollment rate. Those jurisdictions have the second-, seventh-, fourth- and 18th-highest percentages of residents living in poverty.

Discount on a device. Eligible households nationwide also can receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer or tablet from participating providers if the consumer contributes $10 to $50 toward the purchase price.

Better transparency. The Affordable Connectivity Program prohibits upselling — telling customers that they can’t use the benefit on their older, less expensive data plans — or requirements for extended service contracts. These are complaints that some beneficiaries had about their carriers under the Emergency Broadband Benefits program.

It also requires internet service providers to make standard labels available, inspired by government nutrition labeling, for internet download and upload speeds, monthly service costs, taxes, and any equipment and other fees. These rules will likely go into effect starting in late 2023 or early to mid-2024 for most providers.

“If [internet providers] have the more affordable plan that works for you, you can choose it,” AARP’s Kahsai says. The White House has asked providers not to add fees or data caps to their $30 plans.

“The [FCC] should monitor labels to ensure that ISP ‘explanations and context’ or efforts to make labels more ‘understandable’ do not result in misleading or confusing information being provided in the labels,” AARP wrote to the FCC.

$65 billion for creating better broadband

The Affordable Connectivity Program is just a part of the roughly $65 billion approved to improve access to high-quality, high-speed internet contained in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law Nov. 15, 2021.

Some of that money will go toward what Kahsai calls “digital equity.” The new law allocates $2.75 billion for digital literacy training to make sure that everyone — regardless of language, ability or age — has the skills needed to take advantage of their connection to the internet.

About $42.5 billion is being allocated to bring high-speed internet to unserved areas that will benefit families of all incomes. These often include rural areas where population density is low and mountainous areas that can be challenging for companies to reach.

This new service also must have speeds of at least 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads. Each state will start out with $100 million from that pot of money and will be able to get more based on its unserved and underserved needs.

With the new law, “we have an opportunity to put a dent … in the digital divide,” Kahsai says.

Check the broadband map for your address

About 14.5 million Americans — and 22 percent of those 65 and older — don’t have access to high-speed internet, the FCC estimates. Other estimates say that as many as 42 million people in the U.S. are on the wrong side of the digital divide.

The FCC released the first draft of a new national broadband map to the public in November. It is now allowing local governments, tribes and internet service providers to offer feedback to its preliminary findings. The map’s goal is to offer an accurate picture of the availability of fixed broadband internet access across the country.

Consumers also can search their own addresses to see if the information available is correct. If it is not, they can fill out a form to tell the agency what’s right.

Who is eligible for the ACP?

Households that have an income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For a family of four, 200 percent of the federal poverty guideline is $60,000 in 2023, a more than 8 percent increase from 2022.

People who use certain federal assistance programs, including Federal Public Housing Assistance, Lifeline, Medicaid, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Lifeline offers up to a $9.25 discount off monthly phone or internet bills to households that make less than 135 percent of the federal poverty guidelines or have at least one family member in some public assistance program, such as Medicaid, SNAP or SSI. For a family of four to qualify based on 135 percent of this year’s federal poverty guidelines, its annual income would need to be below $40,500.

People who already use a discounted internet service from a high-speed internet provider that is aimed at low-income households.

Households whose children get free or low-cost school meals.

Households that participate in programs specifically for tribes, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, or Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

College students who receive student aid in the form of federal Pell grants.

John Waggoner and Linda Dono contributed to this story. Originally published March 2, 2021, it has been updated to add information about the new Affordable Connectivity Program, which replaced the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. The number of program subscribers is also regularly updated.

Ed Waldman is a contributing editor and writer who covers technology. He previously was an editor at The Baltimore Sun, taught journalism at the University of Maryland and launched a statewide high school sports website.

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