Monkeybrains Blog
The Most Significant Digital Equity Initiative You May Have Never Heard of Has Expired!
In 2021, the US Congress passed an infrastructure bill that included $14.2 billion in funds for ACP (Affordable Connectivity Program) which essentially provided a subsidy for qualifying American families to get online affordably. The need for internet for continued work and learning during the pandemic was the catalyst for ACP and highlighted an imperative need for digital equity now. Just like parklets, to-go-drinks and slow streets, ACP was seen by consumers and providers alike as a great thing that came from "a pandemic frame of mind" and that should possibly be developed as a long term solution. Unfortunately, this great thing recently expired, despite success in subscribing 23 million of 52 million households in just 3 years of its existence.
On Feb 8, 2024 ACP stopped accepting new enrollment for the program. At that point, new qualifying subscribers no longer would receive a $30/month subsidy for internet service. Existing subscribers did continue to receive the subsidy after the Feb 8th deadline. However, now those people have been informed by their ISP that April 2024 would be the last “fully funded” month of this program. The FCC named this phase the “ACP Wind-Down” and informed ISPs and participants alike that the jig is up and they had to coordinate on paying for internet ongoing.
The ACP program was a great success with bi-partisan political support, consumer buy-in and industry support as well. It was a step in the right direction to thinking of internet as a need vs. privilege. And clearly the program was a success that produced a ton of data on the very people that need internet the most in this country. What will we do with this data? Will we wrap it up in the wind-down and hide it away? Or will we do the mindful thing of reaching out to these people and help them stay connected. Benefactors of this program had to jump through hoops to receive assistance. Is it not our duty as Americans to ensure this group of people are not again digitally marginalized?
At the beginning of last month Monkeybrains, sadly, followed suit and informed our ACP customers that April would be the last fully funded month. At the time, we offered customers to continue service with us for our standard fee of $35/month. Monkeybrains was able to enroll 2% of our customers in this program. We accepted the $30/month subsidy as a complete payment for these folks and did not levy the $5 deficit to the subscriber. We wanted these people to pay $0 and were excited to get these people connected.
After sending our communication that ACP is no more, we have received a number of responses from our former ACP customers. Most continued with our service. But several decided to close their accounts citing ongoing life expenses such as the price of food and the bay area cost of living in general.
The harsh reality that some people would now no longer be connected has not sat well with us. Monkeybrains wants to do better. As of the writing of this mini-op-ed, we are offering any former ACP customer, regardless of former ISP, a $25/month option with a $0 installation. Only requirement would be to send us a screenshot or email of the former successful ACP enrollment. Our goal will be to continue developing our informal ACP program and find other funding municipally, statewide or otherwise to make this service $0 again. Lets use the data we successfully accumulated via this successful program and take care of these motivated Americans in need of digital equity.
If you were a former ACP participant, sign up today and add “Former ACP” in the notes of our registration page. We encourage all of our customers to contact their local representative regarding this matter, we list ways to reach state and local officials on our site. Let's keep everyone connected!