This week, the Biden administration announced a significant new partnership with 20 ISPs (including AT&T, Comcast, Spectrum, and Verizon), covering 80% of the U.S. population, in which the ISPs are offering discounted high-speed broadband internet for $30 per month to customers who qualify for the U.S. Government’s ‘Affordable Connectivity Program‘. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which claims over 11.5 million households have received benefit, offers at least a $30 per month in subsidies to eligible households, meaning that those who qualify for the program would effectively pay $0 for high-speed internet with the new partnership. Previously, ISPs could apply the subsidy, but were under no agreement to offer discounted service.
Internet Service Providers with Free High-Speed Internet
According to the White House press release, the following initial 20 companies have committed to offer ACP-eligible households at least one high-speed internet plan for $30 per month or less, with no additional fees and no data caps:
- Allo Communications
- AltaFiber (and Hawaiian Telecom)
- Altice USA (Optimum and Suddenlink)
- Astound
- AT&T
- Breezeline
- Comcast
- Comporium
- Frontier
- IdeaTek
- Cox Communications
- Jackson Energy Authority
- Mediacom
- MLGC
- Spectrum (Charter Communications)
- Starry
- Verizon (Fios)
All plans are expected to offer download speeds of at least 100Mbps everywhere that the provider’s infrastructure is capable of it.
How to Qualify for Free High-Speed Internet through the Government
The income level for households that qualify for the subsidy has been expanded over previous versions as well. 48 million (40%) households in the country are now expected to qualify for the ACP. The FCC states that households are eligible for the benefit if they have an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines OR if a member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:
How to Apply for Free High-Speed Internet
The White House is launching a new site getinternet.gov, which currently redirects to whitehouse.gov/getinternet/.
As was the case prior to this new partnership, there are 2 steps to getting free internet:
1. Apply for the ACP subsidy
You can apply online for the Affordable Connectivity Program through CheckLifeline.org or complete an application form (English here or Spanish here) and send it to:
USAC
Affordable Connectivity Support Center
P.O. Box 7081
London, KY 40742
2. Sign up for a participating ISP plan
If your household qualifies, post approval, your monthly internet bill from over 1,300 Affordable Connectivity partner internet service providers will be subsidized automatically with the credit. Note: only the 20 ISPs listed above offer discounted service of $30 or less, effectively resulting in free high-speed internet over 100Mbps with the $30 subsidy.