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1 month ago | 
benton.org | Grace Tepper |John B. Horrigan |Revati Prasad
Wednesday, March 19, 2025Digital BeatJoin the discussion today at 1 pm (Eastern)—Understanding Internet Access and Use Among Older AdultsThe Digital Equity Act (DEA) of 2021 is a landmark federal investment in ensuring that all people can use and benefit from high-speed, affordable broadband. Through the DEA, Congress identifies several “covered populations”—people most impacted by the digital divide—which includes older adults (those 60 years and older).
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Oct 1, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan |Blair Levin
Tuesday, October 1, 2024Digital BeatThere is a political consensus that the United States should continue its nearly century long commitment to assuring that the tools of modern communications are universally accessible and affordable. There is also a consensus that the primary program through which we keep that commitment—the Federal Communications Commission’s Universal Service Fund (USF)—is breaking down.
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Jul 24, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Wednesday, July 24, 2024Digital BeatNew research finds ACP helped low-income people get and stay online. A new survey from the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society focusing on low-income Americans shows that affordability challenges are pervasive for low-income households, a problem the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) helped alleviate for those most in need.
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Jul 8, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
A forthcoming report from the Benton Institute on Broadband & Society examines the impact of the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on low-income Americans and the affordability of home broadband service. The main findings from the survey are: Households planning to end or cut back on service: Half of surveyed households that had enrolled in ACP said they would either terminate service or downgrade to a slower or cheaper option upon the program’s end.
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Jul 8, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Monday, July 8, 2024Digital BeatA forthcoming report from the Benton Institute on Broadband & Society examines the impact of the demise of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on low-income Americans and the affordability of home broadband service.
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Mar 27, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Wednesday, March 27, 2024Digital BeatToday we are releasing our latest version of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) Enrollment Performance Tool, which updates data through February 2024. We introduce a new feature in this version—the ACP Risk Score for each zip code included in the tool. This score indicates the degree to which households in a given zip code are at risk of losing or reducing internet connectivity should the ACP benefit lapse.
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Mar 15, 2024 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Friday, March 15, 2024Digital BeatNew analysis finds benefits of consistent internet access far outweigh ACP’s costs by nearly 2 to 1Created by Congress in 2020 and renewed in 2021, the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is helping 23.3 million households afford internet access. But funding for ACP—the largest, most successful internet affordability program in U.S. history—is set to expire on May 30, 2024.
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Jan 25, 2024 | 
benton.org | Angela Siefer |Blair Levin |John B. Horrigan
Thursday, January 25, 2024Digital BeatWhat does solving the digital divide look like? The simple answer—getting more people online—is tempting, but it’s just a first step. Focusing only on home adoption rates provides a too limited perspective on the benefits of solving the digital divide. Consistency of connectivity is a key issue for low-income households—and this consistency is an important part of what the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP) offers.
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Dec 20, 2023 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Wednesday, December 20, 2023Digital BeatHow should broadband adoption, affordability, and equity impact the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s assessment of the availability of broadband for all Americans? A review of recent research indicates that it is not enough for networks to meet just certain deployment benchmarks.
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Dec 15, 2023 | 
benton.org | John B. Horrigan
Monday, December 18, 2023Digital BeatUpdated ACP Performance Tool Shows Strong Enrollment in Low-Income and Rural AreasEarlier this month, we released an updated version of the Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Performance Tool, with data current through October 2023, the most recent dataset the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) has posted on ACP enrollment. The downloadable shows that 21.6 million households had enrolled in the program through October 2023.
