LibGuides: Broadband and Digital Equity for Pennsylvania Public Libraries: Affordability

Affordable Connectivity Program

ACP is the federal successor to the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program.

ACP provides $30 a month to eligible consumers (based on income and participation in programs such as SNAP or Medicare or the Free/Reduced Lunch program) and $100 to the purchase of equipment.

ACP Flyer from DCED
An information page about the Affordable Connectivity Program created by DCED (English).
If you would like this flyer in other languages, just ask ccleary@pa.gov and I will populate other languages to this page. DCED did many translations.

ACP Fliers and Handouts from the FCC
Use this Consumer Outreach Toolkit to find printable fliers, fact sheets, and more to promote the ACP program to your patrons.
ACP Dashboard from the Institute of Local Self-Reliance
Find facts about ACP enrollment from your area, includind a summary of ACP enrollment by political party and congressional district.
ACP Resources from the NDIA
Organized information to help with ACP related questions. An FAQ is regularly updated.
Affordable Connectivity Program Enrollment Visualization from Rural LISC
See a map allows users to investigate the percentage of ACP enrollment participation by ZIP code that is updated when new data is made available.
Learn ACP from Education Superhighway
Information and links to courses to help digital navigators learn how to assist people in signing up.
USAS Teaches ACP
Find recent webinars to learn the new process for signing up for ACP benefits
ACP Tool
Use this tool to see how many people in a Zip Code have registered for the Affordable Connectivity Program and to see other broadband data. The tool was current as of January 2023.
Pennsylvania Utilitiy Commission (PUC) ACP Flyers

Some PA facts to ponder:

In the first quarter of 2023, Pennsylvania had 600,799 households that benefitted from this program.
Over 60% or more of the PA public school districts have 60% or more of their students in the Free/Reduced lunch program, a criteria for eligibility.
There are 600,599 Pennsylvania households who received support at $30 per household in the January – March 2023 period. This translates into about $18M per month.
Pennsylvania is the 7^th largest recipient of ACP funding. The other states receiving more are CA, FL, NY, NC, OH, and TX.

Take Advantage of E-Rate

Public libraries are eligible for substantial discounts on the monthly recurring cost of internet connectivity through the federally funded e-rate program.

Learn more about e-rate:

Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF)

The Emergency Connectivity Fund brought funding to help schools and libraries keep students, staff, and patrons connected during the COVID-19 health emergency.

Many libraries in Pennsylvania used funds to purchase laptops and mobile hot-spots to expand access to internet connectivity and devices in the community.

The COVID-19 public health emergency enpired on May 11, 2023, and June 30, 2024 is the sunset date for the program.

Home - Emergency Connectivity Fund - USAC.ORG