Boston (June 14, 2024) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Communication, Media, and Broadband, today held a roundtable on internet affordability alongside the Massachusetts Digital Equity Coalition, advocates, municipal and tribal leaders, and representatives of Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) ran out in May, when over 370,000 enrolled households in Massachusetts lost federal support for their monthly internet bills. Formerly, the ACP was a $14.2 billion program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021 and managed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ensure that every household in the United States could afford internet access.
“The ACP was a lifeline for so many people across the country—including 5 million people who could access the Internet for the first time—and for over 370,000 households in Massachusetts. It helped students and seniors, small businesses and healthcare providers,” said Senator Markey. “We need to ensure that residents who were formerly enrolled in the ACP stay connected, and we cannot stop our push to connect more Massachusetts households to broadband Internet. Back in February in Lynn, I said that we needed to ensure that ACP stood for ‘Accessing Countless Possibilities.’ Today, we must ensure that it also means ‘Assuring Connectivity Persists.’”
“While we will continue to fight for the extension of the Affordable Connectivity Program, the City of Boston remains committed to working with local internet service providers to ensure that all of our community members have both affordable and reliable internet access. Partnerships like the ones that brought all of us to the table today—literally and figuratively—are critical to combatting the digital, racial, economic, health, educational, and climate inequities that have existed for far too long in our society,” said Santiago “Santi” Garces, Chief Information Officer for the City of Boston
“The City of Worcester remains committed to digital equity, and thanks to Senator Markey for his steadfast commitment to internet affordability,” said Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista. “The city continues to work to close the digital divide and ensure that all residents have fair access to internet services. Collaboration and partnership are integral to substantial progress, and we appreciate Senator Markey convening this group of leaders to address digital equity.”
“The Massachusetts Broadband Institute is continuing to take direct actions to address broadband affordability for our most vulnerable residents,” said Michael Baldino, Director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. “The Commonwealth’s Digital Equity Partnerships Program and Residential Retrofit Program are breaking down affordability barriers and improving quality of service for affordable and public housing residents and providing connectivity for families experiencing housing instability. We appreciate the leadership of Senator Markey in advocating for long-term solutions that will make broadband service accessible for everyone.”
“Given how essential internet access is today, it is vital to understand the available affordable options for Mass residents. Sharing these options is also an important tool to safeguard against exploitation and misinformation,” said Virginia Benzan, Director of Racial Justice Advocacy, at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
“The Affordable Connectivity Program provided affordable internet access to over 60,000 households in the four counties of western Massachusetts. On behalf of these thousands of people, we encourage the government and the private sector to explore long-term solutions that provide affordable internet access for everyone. In doing so, it is imperative that we keep the focus on people and their experience of being marginalized because of affordability. We recognize that in 2024 access to the internet is a super social determinant of health,” said Kathy Bisbee, Director of the Alliance for Digital Equity in Western Massachusetts.
Senator Markey is a co-sponsor of the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act of 2024, which would provide an additional $7 billion for the program. In April, Senator Markey called on internet service providers to cover the shortfall in federal funding for the May ACP benefit, which amounted to $16 per household. In February, Senator Markey held a roundtable in Lynn, Massachusetts alongside the Massachusetts Digital Equity Coalition and local leaders to call on Congress to extend the program beyond its expiration at the end of May. In October 2023, Senator Markey co-signed a letter, led by Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), calling on congressional leaders to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program. Senator Markey is the House author of the original E-Rate program, which has invested nearly $62 billion to connect schools and libraries to the internet across the country. Massachusetts schools and libraries have received more than $895 million from the E-Rate program and another $97 million from the Emergency Connectivity Fund, a $7 billion program that Senator Markey created within the American Rescue Plan to provide devices and connectivity for students and educators at home.
###
