Struggling Americans Drop Internet Access After GOP Kills Low-Income Broadband Program

Back in March we noted how the GOP killed a popular program (the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP) that provided a $30 discount off of low-income users' broadband bills. At the time, 22 million Americans were enrolled in the FCC effort to bring down broadband access prices for the most vulnerable.

But after House leader Rep. Mike Johnson refused to let funding bills even have a vote, the program was discontinued. Now, unsurprisingly, low income users who can't afford expensive U.S. broadband are being forced to disconnect:

On Friday, Charter Communications reported a net loss of 154,000 Internet subscribers that it said was mostly driven by customers canceling after losing the federal discount. About 100,000 of those subscribers were reportedly getting the discount, which in some casesmade Internet service freeto the consumer."

Right now many ISPs are offering retention offers to keep users on the subscription rolls, but once those promotions end you can expect notably more users to disconnect. Many states are exploring how they can create state-level replacement programs - with decidedly mixed results so far.

The great irony here is that U.S. broadband prices are among the highest in the developed world in large part thanks to GOP (and some Democratic) support for policies that embrace unchecked consolidation, unhindered regional monopolization, and mindless deregulation. With neither competition nor functional regulatory oversight, regional giants like Charter, AT&T, and Comcast rip off captive customers.

Not only does the GOP (and some Democrats like Joe Manchin) routinely support policies directly responsible for patchy, expensive broadband, the GOP relentlessly attacks absolutely any efforts to do anything about it. Even very basic proposals like requiring that your ISP is clear with you about how much your broadband line will actually cost.

The majority of the GOP voted down COVID relief and infrastructure bills that funded broadband expansion, despite taking credit for the new deployments among their constituents. They routinely fight tooth and nail against any oversight of telecom monopolies, whether on net neutrality or privacy. FedSec lawyers just declared a program that helps bring broadband to rural schools unconstitutional."

All while marketing themselves as a populist party looking out for the little guy.

The GOP telecom policy, for 40 straight years now, has been quite literally to let the biggest, shittiest telecom monopolies do whatever they want. This is somehow dressed up as a noble embrace of free market principles," when the very obvious end result, time and time again, is muted competition, unchecked monopoly power, and expensive, substandard, patchy broadband access.