ACP Outreach NOFO to Be Released in 'Coming Months': FCC Official

The FCC will release a notice of funding opportunity “in the coming months” for organizations seeking funding through the affordable connectivity program’s outreach grant program, said Derik Goatson, Office of Native Affairs Policy legal adviser, during a Consumer Action webinar Tuesday (see 2208050023). The grant program’s review process will “prioritize applicants who target underserved low-income households and communities with low ACP enrollment rates,” Goatson said, noting “many of these communities are often tribal communities.”

Tribal communities are among those with the lowest ACP enrollment rates and that's why they were “specifically mentioned” in the FCC’s order establishing the outreach grant program, Goatson said, citing the Navajo Nation as an example. Many reservations across the Mountain West and Pacific Northwest also have low enrollment rates, he said. Less than 200,000 tribal households were enrolled in ACP Sept. 19, compared with nearly 13.7 million nontribal households, according to the Universal Service Administrative Co.’s enrollment tracker. Additional information about the outreach grant program is expected via a public notice, said Jamile Kadre, Wireline Bureau telecom access policy division attorney adviser. There will also be a webpage displayed on the FCC’s main website.

The commission used the same definition of tribal land for ACP as it does for the Lifeline program, Goatson said. A household is eligible for the up to $75 monthly benefit “as long as the household is located on tribal lands,” he said. Tribal households applying for the enhanced ACP benefit “are required to live on tribal lands to qualify for that benefit,” said Tiffany Johnson, USAC manager-communications for the Lifeline program.

It's “really important" that households "really take the time to pinpoint their exact location” when applying online, Johnson said, saying where a consumer drops a pin on the application page “will affect whether they end up qualifying for the tribal benefit.” Applicants will also see a “tribal qualification button” on their online application to confirm their eligibility for the enhanced benefit, she said.

The consumer protections established in ACP make the program “quite unique,” said Olivia Wein, National Consumer Law Center staff attorney. An enrolled household “enjoys enhanced consumer protections in the marketplace,” Wein said, because a provider can’t use a consumer’s credit check to determine whether they can receive the benefit and which service options they may apply the benefit to. Consumers can also “change where their ACP benefit applies” without a waiting period to enroll, she said.

Wein said how NTIA defines high-cost areas for its Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act programs “will be linked” to ACP and an “enhanced” up to $75 monthly benefit will be available for consumers in areas NTIA defines as high-cost. “Their program definition will trigger that extra enhanced benefit,” she said, and “that can really help certain communities in rural areas of the country.” Communities that lack the infrastructure to participate in ACP should “keep an eye out” on the broadband, equity, access, and deployment program, Wein said, because “the landscape could be changing in the next couple of years.”