Secure and Affordable Broadband Extension Act
This bill reauthorizes the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and provides funding for the removal and replacement of certain foreign communications equipment in telecommunications networks. (ACP provided discounted internet service to eligible low-income households until it was terminated in May 2024 due to a lapse in funding.)
Specifically, the bill reauthorizes and provides funding for ACP for FY2024. The bill makes various changes to ACP eligibility thresholds and verification, including by reducing the income threshold for eligibility under the poverty guidelines. Further, the bill requires communications providers offering the ACP benefit to use specified federal databases to verify an applicant’s eligibility, removing the existing option to use alternative verification processes. The bill specifies that families made ineligible by these changes must remain eligible for benefits for 180 days following the bill’s enactment. The bill also eliminates ACP’s one-time consumer subsidy of up to $100 toward the purchase of a connected device.
The bill also provides additional funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (commonly known as rip and replace). (Under the program, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reimburses providers of advanced communications services for expenses incurred in the removal, replacement, and disposal of communications equipment produced or provided by Huawei Technologies Company or ZTE Corporation.)
Finally, the bill directs the FCC to reauction licenses for the use of specified electromagnetic spectrum bands primarily used by wireless communications providers.