Broadband Affordability Through State Budget

GET INVOLVED:
READ THE CETF LETTER ON BUDGET STRATEGIES October 29, 2024.
SUBSCRIBE TO CETF LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERTS.

The Problem:
In California, 5.8 million households were ACP-eligible. California outperformed all other states by enrolling almost 3 million households in ACP – the rich lessons learned during this enrollment process now inform key provisions of SB424. However, more than 2.8 million households remain to be reached – most of who were not even aware of ACP according to the 2023 Statewide Digital Equity Survey.

The bedrock question is: Shouldn’t ISPs who are receiving taxpayer or ratepayer funds be required to assist the State in getting all low-income households online so that everyone can participate in modern daily life as we know it? The challenge is to ensure that ISPs continue to offer affordable Internet subscriptions for low-income households and join with the State in increasing awareness.

The Solution:
The budget proposal would require all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) doing business with the State of California as a vendor to provide for non-emergency Internet service to provide an affordable Internet service offer that meets standardized eligibility criteria and quality performance standards with consistent and actively promote it through community and ethnic media until at least 90% of all low-income households are connected to the Internet at home.

Additionally, the proposal would expand the requirements on the California Advanced Serviced Fund (CASF) Infrastructure Grants Account so that any recipient of a deployment construction grant must provide an affordable Internet service offer (consistent with the above requirements) throughout all of their service areas in California. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) already requires CASF deployment grant recipients to offer affordable Internet service in project areas and has all the internal procedures for implementing this strategy. This provision would simply expand the existing requirement.

Why It Matters:
California must ensure that affordable Internet service is available to all Californians, especially our most vulnerable residents. We must collectively move forward with a sense of urgency because Digital Equity is a 21st Century Civil Right—and access delayed is access denied.