Keeping ACP Gets Wide Support at NARUC

AUSTIN – NARUC's Telecom Committee supported permanent annual funding for the affordable connectivity program (ACP) in a nearly unanimous vote at the association’s conference Tuesday. Congress will fear ending ACP if enough people sign up, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Robert Branson told state commissioners on a diversity panel Monday. Panelists said it’s important for digital equity efforts to keep the program that’s meant to help low-income communities afford broadband.

Support for ACP crosses political and industry lines, said the proposed resolution’s sponsor, Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable Commissioner Karen Charles. The program has 19 million participants, or 41% of those eligible, said Charles: Annual funding is needed to reach the rest. Only South Dakota Commissioner Chris Nelson opposed the ACP proposal. The Republican said he can’t support more funding by a federal government that’s already $32.5 trillion in debt.

ACP is working, said FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Chief Alejandro Roark, noting the 19 million enrolled are from urban, rural and tribal areas. "We can and must continue to build on its success." Roark sees bipartisan support for extending ACP, he said.

The Telecom Committee unanimously passed another resolution by Charles that would urge expanding Lifeline Awareness Week to include broadband access (see 2307050046). The committee-passed resolutions still need NARUC board approval.

MMTC is planning big ACP sign-up days this summer, Branson said on the diversity panel. If the events achieve a “huge showing,” Congress and the White House “will be afraid to take it away because they will see so many people who have benefited,” he said. “We’re going to document it. We’re going to have film.” MMTC is inviting carriers and state legislators to the sign-up events, he said. Branson wants ACP to be like the Affordable Care Act, which was in danger of repeal until enough people made it clear to Congress that they liked the healthcare program and would revolt if it were taken away, he said.

“This isn’t a quick fix,” said Laurie Dowling, National Utilities Diversity Council executive director. “You’re not going to fix economies in” two to three years, she said. Ending ACP so soon would be “yanking the rug out from under folks.”

"When we don't ask the question anymore is when we have arrived” at digital equity, said former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Equity isn’t giving everyone the same amount of support to afford service, said the consultant. To get everyone on even footing, some people may need $75 and others may need less, she said. “You’ve got unevenness, so don’t expect a fixed $9.25 or $30 to be transported and lifted and shifted [to] different areas.”

Digital redlining is another barrier, said Clyburn. If “there is an unwillingness to invest in communities on the basis of income, race, ethnicity, ZIP codes or profit margins,” digital equity won’t be achieved, she said.

Branson hopes a possibly imminent five-member FCC will rule on redlining, he said. MMTC wants the FCC to go beyond banning discrimination by also creating incentives to serve minority communities, he said. Also, the group disagrees with carriers that “discriminatory intent” should be the standard that's considered, said Branson: It should be “diverse impact.” The FCC has so far punted on the question, but Branson thinks a 3-2 commission would revisit it, he said.

Intentional or not, “when there is harm we need to address it,” said Clyburn. “We get hung up and get really personally sensitive about things that are consequential, and we need to grow … larger calluses when it comes to dealing with these issues.” States and the federal government must work together, said Clyburn, who was also a South Carolina commissioner. “You would like the federal backstop, but it’s very necessary for the states to be partners and identifiers.”

NARUC’s ACP and Lifeline resolutions got support from the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates last week. “We agree that permanent funding for the [ACP] is of utmost importance to meet the continuing needs of the low-income families that struggle most to gain access to our digital environment,” NASUCA President Chris Ayers wrote in a July 12 letter to NARUC’s Peterson.

“Annual, mandatory funding will provide the certainty necessary to continue to enroll all eligible households,” Incompas President Angie Kronenberg wrote NARUC members Friday. ACP funding could run out in mid-2024, she said. “If the ACP faces extinction, it jeopardizes the massive public and private sector investment into [broadband] buildout.” Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition Executive Director John Windhausen supported the ACP draft resolution in another Friday letter to state commissioners. “The ACP is especially helpful for racial and ethnic communities that are on the wrong side of the digital divide.”

NASUCA passed a resolution Sunday on reducing costs of incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS). “NASUCA urges the FCC to clarify that any rate methodology adopted by the FCC will act as a ceiling, not a floor, for IPCS charges and fees,” said the resolution. It said NASUCA supports states’ rights to regulate IPCS rates, fees, terms and conditions and encourages carceral facilities to provide no-cost services when possible.