Twenty-three million families will either have to pay more for internet or cancel their subscriptions altogether if a federal subsidy program to help with the monthly bill runs out of money.

President Joe Biden recently traveled to North Carolina to promote his goal of affordable internet access for all Americans, but the promise for 23 million families across the U.S. is on shaky ground.

That’s because a subsidy that helps people with limited resources afford internet access is set to expire this spring.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides $30 a month for qualifying families in most places and $75 on tribal lands, will run out of money by the end of April if Congress doesn’t extend it further.

“I think this should be high priority for Congress,” North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat who has worked with a bipartisan group of governors to promote the program, said in a phone interview. “To many families, $30 a month is a big deal.”

  • GlitzyArmrest@lemmy.worldEnglish
    27·
    7 months ago

    We shouldn’t be subsidizing giant corporations in the first place. How about just making proper, consumer protecting regulations instead?

    • girsaysdoom@sh.itjust.works
      61·
      7 months ago

      Looking at the policy on the website here it looks like it’s actually fairly reasonable. If you make less than x, are using a listed governmental assistance program, or qualify for the low-income isp plan then the cost is $30/month for 100Mbps Internet. The benefit that’s listed in the article is the current subsidy that would remove the rest of the cost.

      • GlitzyArmrest@lemmy.worldEnglish
        12·
        7 months ago

        Well, that’s not really the problem. The problem is that the government is covering the difference (through subsidizing the mega-corps that offer this).

    • Melkath@kbin.social
      61·
      7 months ago

      Because that would be actually doing something that isn’t killing brown people across the ocean.