Internet Subsidies Are Ending for Millions of Households

Beginning next week, 23 million American households will see the federal subsidies that cut their internet bills reduced—then, over the next month, eliminated. The Affordable Connectivity Program, which was part of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is expiring, NBC News reports. "The money has run out," FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said at an event to build support for funding the program. "Many households will have to face a tough choice: confront that rising internet bill or disconnect them and their household from the internet." An FCC survey showed 80% of US households in the program said they'd have to switch to lesser service or drop it altogether if the subsidies end, per the AP.

Eligible households have received discounts on high-speed internet service of as much as $30 per month, plus a one-time break of $100 on a device such as a laptop. The discount was as high as $75 monthly for Indigenous people. Because they're often located in remote areas, where the cost of building infrastructure is high and population density is low, Native American communities will be hit especially hard by the program's demise, per CNN. Nearly 330,000 tribal households are enrolled, Starks said. Although lawmakers from both parties support renewed funding, congressional Republicans have blocked efforts to keep the program going.

"High-speed internet isn't a luxury any longer, it's consequential," President Biden posted on X is lobbying for the legislation. "And the need for it will only continue to grow." Dan Drljaca, for example, needs internet service to keep telehealth appointments and renew his disability benefits. There's one provider in his Wisconsin town, per NBC, so he has no hope of finding a lower rate than $65, which he said is out of reach. The program was created to shrink the digital divide after COVID shutdowns made the gap among Americans starkly clear. In a commentary for the Brookings Institution, Blair Levin writes that the US is headed toward taking "the biggest step any country has ever taken to widen rather than close its digital divide." (More internet service providers stories.)