Dana Hayden is a self-described “YouTube junkie” who especially likes watching classical music videos online. The 74-year-old lives in a Brighton apartment building for seniors run by the Boston Housing Authority, and has been getting his internet access for free through a federal program called the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
“I have cancer, so it's very it's very difficult for me to leave my apartment,” Hayden said. “So this access to this internet is really a godsend to me. I can't say enough happy things about.”
The federal program providing low-income households with $30 a month for internet access, is coming to an end. More than 367,000 Massachusetts households are set to lose that subsidy. April is the last month those families will receive the full discount. According to the FCC, which runs the program, some families may get a final, partial discount in May.
“This is a program that is improving the lives of Americans everywhere,” said Cynthia Wilkerson, executive director of Little Brothers, Friends of the Elderly, a non-profit organization focused on combatting social isolation of senior citizens. The program helped sign Hayden up for the internet subsidy program.
“This is affecting children, it's affecting students, it's affecting families. It's affecting older adults. This has made a really significant difference in the lives of so many millions of Americans,” Wilkerson said.
Nationally, 23 million households are set to lose the internet subsidy.
“The cost of internet service has always been a barrier to our families and our people in our communities,” said Sharon Scott-Chandler, president and CEO of the social services nonprofit Action for Boston Community Development, which has also promotedthe ACP as a benefit for low-income residents.
“Internet connectivity has become a basic necessity to live, to get ahead, to keep a job, to go to school and be successful in school,” she said. “And so we really need to have this kind of support to allow people to continue connecting to technology.”
As the federal subsidy comes to an end, Hayden was able to sign up for a discounted deal with his internet service provider to be connected for about $10 a month. Those kinds of affordable plans, which offer slower internet speeds, can work for smaller households, said Peter Favorito, senior digital equity manager for the City of Boston.
“But for larger households, with big families or a student, the more expensive plans that offer faster speeds are what folks would really need,” Favorito said. “And that's where the affordability aspect really comes in and becomes a burden.”
Losing the federal subsidy could worsen the nation's so-called “digital divide,” Favorito said.
“This isn't just a technology issue,” he said. “The impacts of this divide have had ripple effects that have furthered racial, economic, educational, health, climate and transit inequities.”
More than 50,000 households in Boston are currently enrolled in ACP. Favorito said the city is working on a number of efforts to lessen the burdenof the program's expiration, including upcoming grant awards to community organizations helping with affordable internet access, telehealth and computer refurbishment programs.
Favorito said he's hopeful, though, that federal lawmakers will extend the program.
“Down in D.C., there is the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, which would add $7 billion to the program to keep it alive, at least through the end of this year,” he said. “And that has bipartisan support. Because this issue is not a partisan issue. It's not a rural versus urban issue. It is simply a quality of life issue.”
Massachusetts Congresswoman Lori Trahan is among the cosponsors of that legislation.
“There’s a bipartisan understanding of the devastating consequences of ACP running out of money, and we have legislation with 228 Republican and Democratic cosponsors ready to prevent that from happening,” Trahan said in a written statement. “[House of Representatives] Speaker [Mike] Johnson needs to put this legislation on the floor without delay, so people aren’t forced to choose between keeping their internet access or putting food on the table for their families.”
The $1.1 trillion House spending package unveiled last month did not include funding to extend the ACP.
Senator Ed Markey visited the Lynn Public Library in February for an event intended to highlight the need to extend the program.
“We must treat internet access like a public good and ensure that everyone is connected online,” Markey said in a press release at the time. “It is absolutely vital that Congress provide additional funding to the ACP and close the digital divide once and for all.”
