State launches initiative to bring high-speed Internet to qualifying residents

Gov. Spencer Cox has announced a statewide initiative to increase awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a long-term federal benefit program to help eligible households pay for high-speed Internet.

The ACP is a $14.2 billion broadband benefit funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and administered by the Federal Communications Commission that provides eligible households with a monthly discount of up to $30 per month (up to $75 per month for households on qualifying tribal lands) and a one-time $100 discount toward a laptop, desktop computer or tablet.

The governor’s office said over{mprestriction ids="1,3"} 348,596 Utah households are eligible for the ACP, while only 16 percent of those eligible have enrolled.

“High-speed Internet access is just as essential to our prosperity today as highways were a century ago, but affordability is the No. 1 barrier to closing the digital divide,” said Cox. “The Affordable Connectivity Program and the historic investments in closing the digital divide will help thousands of households get online and empower people to build the skills they need to succeed in the 21st-century digital economy.”

The governor’s “ACP Act Now: Utah” initiative unites a broad coalition of 53 partner cities, community-based organizations and other institutions in partnership with EducationSuperHighway, the national nonprofit with a mission to close the broadband affordability gap.

The coalition of partners will have access to resources to help them overcome the complex awareness, trust and enrollment barriers that prevent households in the nation’s most under-resourced communities from enrolling. Resources include email marketing templates, social media content and a pre-enrollment tool, GetACP.org/Utah. Local community leaders can use these resources to promote the ACP and help eligible families enroll.

Six local organizations/entities have been awarded grant funds to conduct ACP outreach:

• Catholic Community Services of Utahhas been awarded $135,140 through the National Competitive Outreach program.
• Salt Lake Countyhas been awarded $169,716 through the ACP Navigator Pilot program.
• Santaquin City Libraryhas been awarded $26,760 through the National Competitive Outreach program.
• Utah Community Action Partnership Associationhas been awarded $400,000 through the National Competitive Outreach program.
• Utah State Universityhas been awarded $400,000 through the National Competitive Outreach program and $66,689 through the Tribal Competitive Outreach program.
• Utah Paiute Tribal Housing Authority has been awarded $50,000 through the ACP Your Home, Your Internet Pilot program.

ACP-eligible households include families with incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and those who qualify for Lifeline, SNAP, Free and Reduced-Price School Lunch, WIC and other government-funded programs. The new initiative will leverage state channels to directly promote the ACP to households in these programs and unite local governments, community-based organizations and other institutions to reach unconnected households.

“The Affordable Connectivity Program can bring high-speed home Internet to hundreds of thousands of unconnected Utah households,” said Evan Marwell, CEO of EducationSuperHighway. “We applaud Gov. Cox’s leadership in accelerating the adoption of this valuable program to increase economic opportunity in the state.”{/mprestriction}