Broadband industry quietly abandons Capitol Hill fight to revive low-income internet subsidy

• Internet service providers like Charter, Verizon and Comcast are dialing back their support to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program, an expired federal internet subsidy for low-income households.
• Democrats and Republicans in Congress have brought forward bills to extend the ACP, at least temporarily.
• But since the ACP lapsed in June, participating telecom companies have faced customer losses and expect even more blowback in the coming third quarter, making them wary to endorse another temporary subsidy program that could expire again.

Internet service providers like Charter, Verizon and Comcast have quietly scaled back their efforts to revive the Affordable Connectivity Program, an expired federal internet subsidy that helped low-income households pay for broadband.

The $14.2 billion program provided a discount of up to $30 per month for some qualifying households and up to $75 a month for households on eligible tribal land. But it officially ended in June after Congress decided not to renew its funding.

The ACP served roughly 23 million households, two-thirds of which had either inconsistent or zero internet access prior to enrolling, according to a December survey from the Federal Communications Commission. In February, the ACP stopped accepting new applications as the program's funding dwindled.

In the wake of the ACP's expiration, broadband companies reported losing some customers. But overall, they have weathered the storm better than expected.

"Generally speaking, the impact on the companies so far is less than feared." said analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson. "But that doesn't take away from the families for whom this was important, and could now lose access to broadband." 

Since the ACP lapsed, some