Connecting with other people and resources is more important than ever in today's world. Internet access allows these connections to happen easier and faster than ever before, but only for individuals or businesses that can afford it. To help make the internet more affordable, and therefore more accessible, to lower-income households, the federal government launched the Affordable Connectivity Program, of which MTA Alaska has been a proud partner for many years.
Website: https://www.fcc.gov/acp
In today's ever-connected world, access to the internet is less of a privilege and more of a necessity. With inflation, broadband affordability is a major concern for American households on limited budgets. In order to improve access to broadband services, the federal government rolled out an internet program for low-income, eligible households in 2021. This income program was known as the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, and it formally replaced the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program, or EBBP.
This assistance program is run by the Universal Service Administrative Company, or USAC, with further regulatory oversight from the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC. Working with partnered internet service providers, this program offers significant discounts, or ACP benefits, on internet services to qualifying individuals or households.
According to the official White House website for the program, eligibility criteria is based on household incomes who:
The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has ended due to a lack of additional funding from Congress. As of February 7, 2024, the ACP stopped accepting new applications, with April 2024 being the last fully funded month.
Although the ACP is no longer available, consumers can still benefit from the Lifeline Program, which provides financial assistance for phone, internet, and bundled services to low-income individuals. If Congress allocates more funds to the ACP in the future, the FCC will release further updates. For details about the Lifeline Program, please visit the FCC website.
Since its inception, MTA Alaska has been a proud participating provider with the ACP. As such, we helped provide internet and phone services to rural, low-income Alaskans and helped connect them with ACP benefits. Customers who were enrolled in this program received a monthly discount of up to $75 on their internet service plans in Alaska.
While this assistance may no longer be available, MTA Alaska is still dedicated to bringing high-speed internet and phone services to Alaskan homes and businesses. That is why we continually offer flexible plans to work with most budgets, including home internet that starts at $69.99/month and home phone that starts at $19.99/month.