A federal program reimbursing low-income households for their internet bills will end within months.
The Affordable Connectivity Program began in early 2022 and offered monthly discounts of $35 for qualifying households’ broadband internet bills — or $75 a month if those households were on Hawaiian home lands. The program also offered a onetime $100 credit toward the purchase of an internet-capable device.
The program is dying, however. Feb. 7 marked the last day that anyone could enroll in the program, and now it will wind down until the money runs out, said state Broadband Coordinator Burt Lum.
“We’re thinking the money’s going to run out by April,” Lum said. “If you’re enrolled, you’ll still get the reimbursements until then.”
Lum said there are two bills in the U.S. Congress that could renew the program, but he was pessimistic about their odds of survival. No action has been taken on either bill after being introduced in January.
“(The bills) are still alive, as far as I know, but they have to go through committees, cross over to each house, and get signed by the president,” Lum said. “To be honest, though, it’s an election year, and that means there’s going to be a lot of scrutiny on what gets into the budget.”
Lum added that even if the program is resurrected in a future year, his Broadband and Digital Equity Office can’t simply maintain its infrastructure for administering a program that ceases to exist.
“Without a strong indication from the FCC that the (ACP) is going to be coming back, we can’t just sit around waiting for it,” Lum said.
Reflecting on the ACP, Lum said it had “a good run.” About 60,000 households statewide availed themselves of the funding, and estimated that between 100,000 and 120,000 households would have been eligible. Households earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level — which was $63,840 for a Hawaii family of four in 2022 — or with a member receiving at least one of a myriad of different financial aid benefits were eligible.
He also noted that the ACP in Hawaii only spent about $5 million of the program’s $14.2 billion nationwide budget, praising how cost-effective the initiative was.
Meanwhile, Lum said his office and state lawmakers are setting the groundwork for a future state program to fund projects providing internet access to underserved populations.
House Bill 2359 in the state Legislature would establish a Digital Equity Grant Program, which would allow Lum’s office to award funds to diverse projects such as digital literacy education campaigns, internet affordability programs and more.
Lum said a similar bill faltered at the final hurdle last year, but was more optimistic that this version — which allocates no funding for the program — will be more successful.
The House Committee on Higher Education and Technology already voted unanimously in support of HB 2359 earlier this month.
“This program is a vital component of a comprehensive broadband strategy for Hawaii, which includes infrastructure development, digital literacy and digital equity,” wrote Hawaii County Research and Development Director Douglass Adams in support of the measure. “The timing is right to establish this program.”
The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce will discuss the measure today at 2 p.m.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.