CBPP Presents New Findings to FCC on Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment

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How Can Policymakers Use These Insights to Expand Internet Access?

This week, John Mayo, Jeff Macher, and Tim DeStefano from Georgetown McDonough’s Center for Business and Public Policy (CBPP) presented their new research to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) examining enrollment trends in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a $14.2 billion federal initiative aimed at closing the digital divide.

DeStefano, Macher, and Mayo highlighted persistent challenges in take-up rates across means-tested programs like the ACP, despite their critical importance. Their analysis shows that low participation is not solely a matter of traditional “participation costs” such as information gaps and transactional burdens. Instead, the research points to the significant role of third-party actors — including internet service providers (ISPs), local governments, and non-governmental organizations — in shaping enrollment outcomes.

Despite these challenges, the ACP achieved remarkable scale in a short period, reaching tens of millions of low-income households with broadband subsidies within just a few years before its cancellation. It stands as the largest and most ambitious federal initiative to expand household broadband adoption to date.

While federal outreach efforts, including the FCC’s $100 million grant program to boost ACP visibility, were well-intentioned, preliminary evidence suggests that enlisting private-sector organizations and empowering capable local governments may yield more substantial results in driving enrollment.

These CBPP researchers plan to build on these findings with further data from FCC outreach programs and detailed performance reports to better understand what works in promoting broadband access for low-income households.