By Former Senator Thom Goolsby

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which is responsible for making high-speed internet affordable for over 750,000 North Carolinians, is expected to run out of funds in early 2024. There are many factors that go into our most low income and rural Americans not having access to high-speed internet, but affordability and access are two of the biggest issues. This program plays a key role in addressing the digital divide. If we let it expire, the most significant negative impact would be felt by those in rural communities.

 There have been many efforts to address affordability, starting with the Trump Administration’s Emergency Broadband Benefit which transitioned to the ACP. In the last few years, federal broadband affordability programs have made great strides in enabling low-income, rural Americans to afford the internet. We can’t stop now. We can’t do harm to all the good progress we’ve made to help out low-income Americans.

 As we address affordability, we can’t forget about access. The termination of this program would have a disastrous impact on efforts to expand broadband infrastructure to rural regions that don’t have access. A recent study found that the ACP’s existence reduced the investment needed to incentivize providers to build in rural areas by 25% per household. Without the ACP, we will see these projects cost significantly more and cause the program to be out of funding before rural Americans receive the service they need. 

 While so many have participated in this program, there are even more North Carolinians who are eligible. I hope that our leaders in Congress understand how important internet access is. Without connectivity, rural communities will be at a significant disadvantage. Efforts need to be made to extend funding for this critical program.