The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is partnering with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to increase Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) signups among people receiving federal housing assistance.
The agencies plan to collaborate on ACP outreach and education efforts, such as holding enrollment events at properties participating in HUD’s project-based rental assistance programs.
Outreach will begin this week, according to a HUD press release, aiming to “decrease the time it takes for some people to sign up for the program.”
ACP enrollment continues to grow, with 20.5 million households signed up as of August 28. The FCC said the interagency partnership complements the Your Home, Your Internet pilot program, which was established last August and is also focused on improving ACP outreach.
That pilot program provides grant funding to 23 local housing authorities to help connect recipients of federal housing assistance. A list of entities, along with those selected for the ACP Navigator program, can be found here.
“We are deeply committed to ensuring families and their children have the necessary resources to thrive, and this partnership makes it clear that eligible HUD households can get the financial help they need to equitably access broadband resources,” said HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge in a statement.
“With better coordination between HUD and the FCC, we will get closer to ensuring that the millions of eligible households receiving federal housing assistance have the opportunity to enroll in ACP and get connected,” stated FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks.
This isn’t the first time government agencies have teamed up to boost ACP signups, as the FCC earlier this summer launched a Week of Action in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, operators and non-profit group Civic Nation.
But efforts to increase ACP enrollment may be futile if Congress doesn’t allocate more funding to the $14 billion program, New Street Research’s Blair Levin told Fierce in June.
To preserve the ACP, organizations like ITIF have urged the federal government to cut rural broadband programs that may be “redundant” due to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Additionally, the FCC has raised the ACP monthly subsidy from $30 to $75 per month in “qualifying high-cost areas.” It’s currently unclear which high-cost areas will be eligible, but states must define those areas in their initial BEAD proposals.