How to get and apply for Affordable Connectivity Program (acp) for low income – In the digital era where Internet access is important for work, healthcare, education and more the federally funded Affordable Connectivity Program stands as a beacon of support for low-income families who are unable to afford monthly Internet bills and services.
The Affordable Connectivity Program aims to ensure all American households get essential Internet connection and has a budget of $14.2 billion. It is a part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that became a federal law on 15 November 2021 to expand the emergency broadband benefits program with long-term goals. This guide will provide you with an overview of the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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Highlights of this Post
What Is The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)?
A Federal Communication Commission program known as the Affordable Connectivity Program assists low-income households and families who are struggling to afford Internet service and need to go to work and attain healthcare facilities or school. Under the ACP program, one can get a free tablet, free laptop, free cell phone, free computer, free internet access, and also other discount rated plans.
The benefits provide eligible households with:
- A discount of up to $30 per month for Internet service or a discount of up to $75 per month for households on eligible tribal lands.
- A one-time discount of up to $100 for producing a laptop, tablet or desktop computer from a participating provider. The program is limited to one monthly service discount as well as one device discount per household.
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When And Why Did The ACP Program Replace The Emergency Broadband Benefit?
The Affordable Connectivity Program was designed as a long-term extension of the Emergency Broadband Benefit and replaced the EBB program on 31st December 2021.
The Affordable Connectivity Program continues to offer low-income households discounts on connected devices and broadband services however with little changes from that of the EBB program in terms of the program benefit amount and the eligibility criteria.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gave authorization to the FCC to conduct outreach for the ACP program including provision to outreach partners for increasing awareness of the ACP program particularly recipients of Federal Housing assistance.
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How Does The ACP Work For Low-Income Families?
The Affordable Connectivity Program is helping low-income families by providing them various services. If one qualifies for ACP then they will get the following benefits from the program.
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Free Laptop
If you are qualified for the ACP benefits then you will get an ACP free laptop from your service provider. You must talk to your internet service provider in your local area and ask for help to get a free laptop. If you want to get a free laptop from ACP then you have to fill in an application form.
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Free Tablet
Today technology plays a vital role in everyone’s life. With the help of technology one can connect anyone anytime. ACP helps low-income families and individuals, with free tablets particularly to the needy people or students. You must meet the eligibility criteria and provide all the required documents along with the application form.
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Free Computer
ACP offers various services and benefits to their qualified customers. Nowadays, it is very important to stay connected with technology. ACP offers free computers for students, seniors, adults, unemployed people, veterans, single parents, and others who need the free computer to change their lives and make their lives better.
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ACP Free Phone
Phone is a crucial device in today’s time. With the help of a phone, one can stay connected with their near ones, purchase things online, get online classes, do business meetings, make online appointments, make payments online, and many other things. ACP offers free phones to qualified applicants.
What Are The Eligibility Criteria To Qualify For The Affordability Connectivity Program?
As per FCC, a low-income household is eligible to receive benefits from the Affordable Connectivity Program if the household is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines or if the member of the household meets the following criteria.
- Participate in any one of the following federal assistance programs:
- Medicaid
- SNAP
- Free and reduced-price School Breakfast Program or School Lunch Program including USDA community eligibility provision schools
- Federal Housing assistance programs including Housing Choice Voucher Program, Project-based Rental Assistance Programs such as Section 202, Section 811, Public Housing, affordable housing programs for Alaska Natives, American Indians or Native Hawaiians
- Supplemental Security Income
- Veterans Pension Survivor Benefits or Lifeline
- WIC
- Participate in one of the different tribal-specific programs like Tribal TANF, Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservation, and Tribal Head Start Income Program.
- Have income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
- Meet specific criteria for participating providers’ existing low-income programs.
- Must have received a federal Pell Grant during the current academic year.
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What Are The Documents Required To Take Part In The Affordable Connectivity Program?
Apart from fulfilling the eligibility criteria, participants are also required to provide proof of documents to determine their eligibility. These documents are as follows:
- Proof of income such as a social security statement of benefits, pay stubs or tax return.
- Proof of participation in federal funded programs including approval letters, statement of benefits and benefit verification letters.
- Identification documents like your birth certificate, passport, US driver’s license, certified US citizenship or naturalization, valid government, military, state or tribal ID, permanent resident card or green card, individual taxpayer identification number document.
- Proof of your address in the form of a driver’s license, valid government, state or tribal ID, mortgage or lease statement, utility bill, recent W2 or tax return
- Completed ACP household worksheet
- You can submit your documents online, by mail or by contacting your internet company to get assistance with submitting relevant documentation.
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How Does The Affordable Connectivity Program Protect Low-Income Customers?
The primary advantage of the Affordable Connectivity Program is to get a discount of up to $30 per month for eligible low-income households and around $75 per month for those who are living on qualifying tribal lands.
Eligible American households can get a one-time discount of up to $100 for buying a desktop computer, laptop or tablet provided they can contribute an amount between $10 to $50 towards the purchasing price. The program is limited to one device discount and one monthly service discount per household.
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The ACP is designed to make broadband affordable and accessible to needy families and remove barriers to entry. FCC guidelines protect recipients of the ACP program in the following ways.
- Ensuring customers get access to supported broadband service irrespective of their credit status
- Ensuring customers can choose the service plan that meets their needs and budget
- Prohibiting customers from being forced into a lower or expensive quality plan to receive ACP benefits
- Preventing providers from excluding people with prior debt or due balances from enrolling in ACP
- Making sure customers are not liable for the early termination fees
- Enabling recipients of the ACP program to switch broadband service offerings or providers
- Reducing the possibility of financial harm or bill shock
- Providing a committed FCC procedure for ACP complaints.
To protect the customers the ACP program enables people to choose the service plan that aligns their needs and ensures accessibility to a supported broadband service irrespective of the credit status.
The rules and guidelines prevent exclusion based on past debt, due balance or forcing people into expensive plans to receive the ACP benefits. The aim of the program is to lower the financial hardship and provide committed FCC procedures for ACP-related complaints.
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How To Enroll In The Affordable Connectivity Program?
Enrolling for the federally funded Affordable Connectivity Program includes a two-step procedure: completing and submitting an application online or mailing an application available at the getinternet.gov website and connecting to a participating lender from where you can select an internet plan and apply for the discount available through the program.
Apply Online
One can apply for the ACP online, by following the steps that are given below:
- First, visit the official website of ACP.
- Then click on the ‘Fill application form’.
- Then enter the details that need to be filled in the application form, and attach all the required documents.
- Once you are sure that all the information you filled is correct and updated then you can click on the submit button to send the application form.
Apply Via Mail
One can choose the way to apply for ACP via mail, by following the below-mentioned steps:
- First, get the application form for ACP and fill out it with all the required information.
- Make sure to attach all the required documents with the application form as well.
- After that mail the application form with documents at the ACP office address.
Apply Through Your Internet Service Provider
If someone is unable to choose any of the above mentioned methods then they can contact their internet service provider. You can contact your internet service provider and ask them about ACP benefits and the application process.Participating Internet providers can have alternate application procedures.
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List of ISPs That Are Participating In The Affordable Connectivity Program
The Affordable Connectivity Program is not a check that you can receive but a discount available on your internet bill. You need to contact your internet service provider that is participating in the federally funded Affordable Conductivity Program so that it will apply the discount to your monthly charge.
It is also an excellent opportunity to see if you can upgrade your internet plan tire and access more speed for less money. Following is the list of Internet service providers that are participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Two different discount programs are provided by the internet service provider known as Cox. These two discount programs are known as ConnectAssist and Connect2Complete.
The Connect2Compete discount program is aimed at fixed-income or low-income families whereas the ConnectAssist program is geared towards eligible low-income families without children.
Qualifying households can get a 100 Mbps plan including accessibility to Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide, a free modem and 1.25TB of data for just $30 per month which you can cover by ACP benefits.
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Customers who are participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program can use Mediacom and utilize their discount benefits on Xtreme Internet service.
The Internet service provider Mediacom comes with a Connect2Compete program for eligible low-income households with a minimum of one student in K12 and a minimum of one child enrolled in the National School Lunch Program.
Mediacom features up to 25 Mbps internet speed for $10 monthly or speeds up to 100 Mbps for only $30 per month. Both plans are available free of cost when combined with the Affordable Connectivity Program benefit.
You can use the Affordable Connectivity Program towards your AT&T Internet plan. Access program from AT&T is the most affordable program for financially challenged and low-income households.
The plan features download speed up to 100 Mbps for only $30 per month which will be free for the customers when combined with the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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You can enroll yourself in the Optimum Advantage Internet Program if your household has a senior citizen or anyone is participating in the National School Lunch Program.
Optimum provides a no-contract Internet plan that comprises a router, free installation unlimited data, modem and download features of 250 Mbps for $15 per month. When this plan is combined with the Affordable Connectivity Program benefit customers can receive free Internet service.
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You can apply the ACP benefit to any Internet Service plan provided by Starry Internet however the most affordable Internet program by this provider is Starry Connect which includes 30 Mbps upload and download speeds that can be covered entirely by the ACP discount. This is also true for another program known as the Starry Select plan that features 100 MBPS download speed and upload speed up to 50 Mbps.
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A lot of affordable plans are designed by Comcast known as Internet Essentials that are geared towards low-income households in America. Xfinity provides 50 Mbps download-free equipment and no contracts for $10 monthly.
Participants of the Affordable Connectivity Program can use the Internet Essentials Plus to double the download internet speed up to 100 Mbps and this also includes other terms such as no contracts, no credit check and free equipment just for $30 per month or entirely free for customers of the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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Customers of Verizon including Verizon Wireless and Verizon 5G Home Internet can use the Affordable Connectivity Program in case they qualify.
The FIOS Forward as well as the Verizon Forward Program of the company enable Verizon customers to get free internet service using the ACP benefits. Verizon FIOS 500 Mbps customers or those who have enrolled in the Gigabit plans can use the Affordable Connectivity Program to get discounted services.
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Cable Internet service by Charter is participating in the federally funded Affordable Connectivity Program and qualified customers can use the ACP discount on their Spectrum Internet plans.
Spectrum also provides customers of ACP 100 Mbps plan including self-installation, modem and Wi-Fi for only $30 per month. Eligible Affordable Connectivity Program customers can also get broadband service completely free of cost.
It is important to note that when it comes to choosing Internet service providers that are participating in Affordable Connectivity Programs this is not the complete or exhaustive list. Few more service providers that works in collaboration with the ACP are as follows:
- Assurance Wireless
- QLink Wireless
- Easy Wireless
- Standup Wireless
- Cintex Wireless
- Boost Mobile
- Blue Jay Wireless
- FeelSafe Wireless
- Safetynet Wireless
- Frontier Wireless
- Tempo
- TruConnect
- Life Wireless
You can find more Internet service providers in your local area that are participating in the program by referring to the FCC state-by-state ACP participant list.
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Conclusion
The Affordable Connectivity Program is a Federal Communications Commission benefit program that assists low-income households to afford as well as access broadband internet connectivity so that they can reach work, healthcare, school and fulfill other essential needs. As per the Federal Communication Commission, the ACP provides discounts to eligible households up to $30 per month that are applied to the internet service plan for the household. The amount increases up to $75 per month for households on tribal lands. You can refer to the aforementioned Internet service providers that are participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Benefits Can One Get From The ACP?
If someone qualifies for the ACP then they will get various benefits from the program. These benefits include, free tablet, free computer, free internet access, free tablet, free smartphone, and also discounted or affordable plans.
How Long Will ACP Send Money To Help Me Pay For The Broadband?
The Affordable Connectivity Program will not send you a check in the mail or provide you funds directly. Instead the discounts will be given on your internet service bills. Your service provider will get the funds from the federal government and you will get that in return in the form of a reduced price on your Internet bill.
How Long Will The Affordable Connectivity Program Last?
The Affordable Connectivity Program is a long-term federally funded program that is committed to helping people with $14 billion in assistance and there is no end date for the program.
Is The Emergency Broadband Benefit And Affordable Connectivity Programs Same?
The Emergency Broadband Benefit and Affordable Connectivity Program are two different programs. The Emergency Broadband Benefit provided temporary benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic to needy families whereas the ACP is a long-term assistance program aimed at helping low-income households to stay connected for school, work, healthcare or more needs.
What Is The Difference Between ACP And Lifeline?
Lifeline is a federally funded program that supports affordability for important communication services, even broadband Internet access, while ACP is a new program that offers discounts to make connected devices and broadband services more affordable. Both are a part of the FCC program.
Can I Choose My Own ACP Provider?
Yes, one can choose their ACP provider. One can search for the ACP service providers in their area and contact them to get their services.
Which Service Providers Are Working With ACP?
There are various service providers in the US who are working under the ACP and provide better services to people who qualify for the ACP. Those service providers include Assurance Wireless, Safelink Wireless, SafetyNet Wireless, Easy Wireless, and lots of other wireless service providers.
Does ACP Provide Benefits To Low-Income Families Only?
No, apart from low-income families many other people can benefits from the ACP, such as eligible students, veterans, senior citizens, single parents, and people navigating financial hardship or looking for affordable phone and internet services.