FCC’s Gomez Says ACP’s Demise ‘Penny Wise, Pound Foolish’
'The end of the ACP will undo the significant progress we have made toward closing the divide.'
'The end of the ACP will undo the significant progress we have made toward closing the divide.'
WASHINGTON, May 31, 2024 – Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said Friday that the shutdown of the Affordable Connectivity Program will undermine the goal of affordable, high-speed Internet for every American.
Gomez, in a statement noting Friday as the last day of the ACP, said adding $30 monthly discounts to the bills of millions of low-income Americans would generate demand for new networks to be built with the $42.25 billion in grant dollars from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
The city promises options ranging from symmetrical 300 megabits per second to symmetrical 1 gigabit per second.
BEAD should use all technologies, but not all technologies are equal.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr opposed moving forward with the $9 billion fund as a commissioner.
New report finds affordability mandate would cut less than 1% from top ISPs’ revenues.