SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EducationSuperHighway, the nationalist non-profit with a ngo to adjacent the broadband affordability gap, contiguous released its 2nd No Home Left Offline study connected the enactment needed to accelerate Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) adoption. The caller study highlights the captious relation section leaders indispensable play if the ACP is to fulfill its committedness of closing the integer disagreement for 18 cardinal American households that person entree to the net but can't spend to connect.
The ACP is simply a $14.2 cardinal national broadband payment funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) that provides eligible households with a monthly discount of up to $30 per period (up to $75 per period for households connected qualifying Tribal lands) and a one-time $100 discount toward a laptop, desktop computer, oregon tablet. 51.6 cardinal households, including 17.7 cardinal unconnected households, are eligible for the ACP, yet only 13 cardinal (25% of those eligible) person enrolled.
Over the past year, closing the broadband affordability spread has go a nationalist priority. The study finds that our nation's Internet Service Providers person stepped up, and 74% of ACP-eligible households are covered by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) offering a high-speed net program for $30 per period oregon less, making the program escaped with the ACP benefit.
Despite 12.9 cardinal ACP-eligible, unconnected households having the accidental to instrumentality vantage of escaped internet, the study outlines the analyzable awareness, trust, and enrollment barriers that forestall households successful the nation's astir under-resourced communities from enrolling. It besides announces caller data, tools, and champion practices to assistance states and cities flooded them. Key study highlights include:
- 51.6 million U.S. households are eligible for the ACP, yet lone 13 cardinal households (25% of those eligible) person enrolled.
- The ACP has the imaginable to link 17.7 cardinal households that are ACP-eligible and unconnected.
- The ACP enrollment process is simply a significant situation for eligible households utilizing the National Verifier. 45% of applications are rejected, and galore much neglect to implicit the 30-45 infinitesimal enrollment process.
- Cities successful each state are proving that we tin bash dramatically better. The nationalist champion signifier for ACP adoption is 61%, and ample cities, specified arsenic Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Tulsa, person already achieved adoption rates of implicit 45%.
- 74% of ACP-eligible households are covered by an ISP offering a "free with ACP" plan (i.e., high-speed net plans for nary much than $30 per month). That amounts to 37.9 cardinal eligible households, including 12.9 cardinal that are unconnected.
- Two-thirds of eligible households are already beneficiaries of 1 oregon much authorities payment programs that automatically suffice them for the ACP, giving states a targeted transmission to rise ACP consciousness and assistance participants enroll.
State and City Leaders Play A Critical Role
Highlighting commitments from a bipartisan radical of 25 governors who are making ACP adoption a precedence successful their states, EducationSuperHighway points to the captious relation authorities and section leaders tin play fixed their heavy knowing of their communities, beardown transportation to residents, and quality to efficaciously prosecute trusted messengers and assemblage influencers. They urge authorities and section leaders instrumentality contiguous enactment to launch ACP consciousness campaigns and develop ACP enrollment enactment strategies that leverage Digital Equity Act funds to alteration outreach to and enactment for unconnected households by community-based organizations and trusted institutions.
"No Home Left Offline starts with ensuring each eligible American household knows astir the Affordable Connectivity Program, tin easy enroll, and past motion up for high-speed net service," said Evan Marwell, CEO of EducationSuperHighway. "We applaud the bold enactment of those governors who are making ACP adoption a precedence for their states and are acceptable to enactment section leaders successful removing the barriers that support millions unconnected."
To enactment section leaders successful this work, EducationSuperHighway has released an ACP Enrollment Dashboard, providing states and cities with the astir up-to-date information connected their fig of ACP-eligible households, the fig that person enrolled, and the fig that inactive deficiency a high-speed location connection. The dashboard equips authorities and metropolis planners to efficaciously people caller national broadband backing to enactment ACP consciousness and adoption efforts. It besides shows the advancement needed to bring each authorities to the nationalist champion signifier adoption complaint of 61% of eligible households.
New Tools to Accelerate Affordable Connectivity Program Adoption
Alongside the report, EducationSuperHighway has besides announced champion practices to assistance cities motorboat consciousness campaigns to guarantee their residents cognize astir the ACP and enrollment enactment tools that assistance households get done a challenging sign-up process that rejects 45% of applicants. Their Affordable Connectivity Program Adoption Toolkit for Local Leaders is simply a step-by-step usher that contains outreach templates, grooming materials, and champion practices to assistance leaders get the connection retired to eligible households.
They person besides launched GetACP.org, a virtual mobile adjunct that simplifies the ACP enrollment process by providing real-time enactment to assistance eligible households find the easiest mode to qualify. The mobile website is disposable successful 4 languages and helps applicants flooded captious barriers successful the enrollment process by helping them place the documents needed erstwhile applying and find "free with ACP" broadband plans disposable astatine their address.
Without high-speed Internet entree astatine home, Americans can't nonstop their children to school, enactment remotely, oregon entree healthcare, occupation training, the societal information net, oregon captious authorities services. Achieving nationalist champion signifier ACP adoption rates tin importantly accelerate closing the broadband affordability gap, connecting two-thirds of the 18 cardinal households that person entree to the net but can't spend to connect.
ABOUT EDUCATIONSUPERHIGHWAY
EducationSuperHighway is simply a nationalist non-profit with the ngo to adjacent the integer disagreement for the 18 cardinal households that person entree to the Internet but can't spend to connect. We absorption connected America's astir unconnected communities, wherever much than 25% of radical don't person Internet.
From 2012-2020 we led the effort that closed the schoolroom connectivity gap. In 2013, lone 10% of students had entree to integer learning successful their classrooms. Today, acknowledgment to an unprecedented bi-partisan effort by federal, state, and schoolhouse territory leaders, supported by K-12 advocacy organizations, the schoolroom connectivity spread is closed - 47 cardinal students are connected, and 99.3% of America's schools person a high-speed broadband connection.
CONTACT
EDUCATIONSUPERHIGHWAY
esh@commstrat.com
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