Update November 2022: A previous version of the ACP Dashboard was based on an incorrect understanding of the Enrolled and Claimed household numbers. At the time, we believed that these two values (as reflected in the publicly available USAC releases) represented an important (and increasingly so) reality where a large number of the households that were eligible and enrolling in the benefit were not using (or claiming) the benefit.
Thus, the data seemed to show that millions of households who had been cleared to use the program were not getting the benefit each month. In the story below, we highlight what looked like gaps in major metropolitan areas, including places like Baltimore, Detroit, Washington D.C., and elsewhere.
After further conversation with administration representatives regarding the ACP data releases, it seems this is not the case. Instead, the difference between Enrolled and Claimed households only reflects the procedure via which ISPs participating in the program are submitting payment claims to USAC at irregular intervals. ISPs have six months to submit data to USAC for reimbursement - here, according to administration officials, is where this gap originates from. Rather than reflecting enrolled households not using the benefit, instead it reveals where ISPs are waiting (or have failed) to claim households that are in fact participating. Why this seems to be taking place at larger rates in some metro areas as opposed to others, we do not yet know. If you have additional insight, please reach out to use at broadband@muninetworks.org. Once we know more, we will update this story.
To reiterate: according to administration sources, all Enrolled households should be using the benefit, and reflect the best numbers for understanding how much of the fund is being used at present. We have adjusted the dashboard to reflect this, but preserve the original story below.
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ORIGINAL STORY
Since the launch of the Affordable Connectivity Program last January, millions of households have benefitted from the $30/month connection subsidy to help pay for their broadband bills. The program serves as a necessary bridge in a failed marketplace, dominated nationally by a small number of regional monopolies driven by shareholders to...
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