Since signing up for an affordable connection plan last year, Myrna Broncho’s internet bill has been paid in full with discounts. The program offered a $75 discount for Internet access in high-cost areas like Tribe or Broncho, but it ran out of money.
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FORT HALL RESERVATION, Idaho — Myrna Broncho realized how necessary an internet connection was after she broke her leg.
In the fall of 2021, the 69-year-old climbed a ladder to the top of a shed on her ranch. The roof that protected her horses and cattle needed repairs. So, she took the electric drill in her hand and pushed down.
Just then, she slipped.
Blancho said her leg broke between the steps when she fell, “my bone was sticking out and the only thing holding it up was my sock.”
Blancho crawled back into the house to get his phone. She didn’t think about taking it with her because, she said, “I’ve never really been around a cell phone.”
Blancho required nine surgeries and months of rehabilitation. Her hospital is more than two hours away in Salt Lake City, and her home internet connection is crucial for her to keep track of records and appointments and communicate with medical staff.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, federal lawmakers launched the Affordable Connectivity Initiative to connect more people to work, school and doctors. Ultimately, more than 23 million low-income families, including Broncho families, signed on. The program provides a $30 monthly subsidy on Internet bills, or a $75 discount in tribes or high-cost areas like Brown Joe.
Now, ACP is out of money.
Myrna Broncho lives on the Fort Hall Reservation in rural southeastern Idaho on Broncho Road, a road named after her family. Naming. Broncho participates in the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounts on Internet service. “I love it,” she said, but the program is coming to an end.
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In early May, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) cast doubt on efforts to continue funding the program, telling a Commerce Committee hearing that the program needed to be revised.
“As currently designed, ACP does a poor job of providing support to people who really need help,” Thune said, adding that too many people already connected were taking advantage of the subsidies.
There was a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill as lawmakers first tried and failed to fund the must-pass Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization. Then Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., traveled to his home state to tell voters in White River Junction that Congress was still working on a solution.
As funding for the program dwindles, both Democrats and Republicans have pushed for new legislative action, introducing proposals to try to address the concerns Thune raised.
As the program winds down on May 31, President Joe Biden’s administration continues to call on Congress to take action. At the same time, the government announced that more than a dozen companies, including AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, will offer low-cost plans to ACP participants, which the government said could affect as many as 10 million households.
More than two-thirds of households had spotty or no internet connection before joining the program, according to a survey of participants released by the Federal Communications Commission.
Broncho had an Internet connection before receiving the subsidy, but on the rural reservation in southeastern Idaho where she lives, about 40 percent of the 200 families participating in the program did not have Internet access before receiving the subsidy.
Nationally, about 67% of non-urban residents report having a broadband connection at home, compared with the same share of urban residents, said John Horrigan, a national technology adoption expert and a senior fellow at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. Close to 80%. Horrigan reviewed data collected by the 2022 Census survey.
The FCC said on May 31 that ending the program would affect about 3.4 million households in rural areas and more than 300,000 households in tribal areas.
The end of federal subsidies for internet bills will mean “many families will have to make the difficult choice to no longer use the internet,” said Amber, an American Legion member who serves the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe on the reservation. Hastings said. Some families participating in Hastings must agree to a plan to pay off overdue bills before joining the program. “So they’re already in trouble,” Hastings said.
Matthew Rantanen, technical director of the Southern California Tribal Chairman Association, said ACP is “extremely valuable.”
“Society has moved everything online. As a member of society, you cannot function in this society without a broadband connection,” Rantanen said. He said Aboriginal communities and people like “Mirna” were disadvantaged because of a lack of connections.
Rantanen, who advises tribes across the country on building broadband infrastructure on their lands, said the benefits of ACP subsidies are twofold: They help individuals get connected and they encourage providers to build infrastructure.
“You can guarantee a return on investment,” he said, explaining that the subsidy ensures customers can pay for Internet service.
Since Broncho joined the program last year, her internet costs have been paid for in full through discounts.
Blancho used the money she had previously budgeted for her internet bill to pay off credit card debt and a loan she took out to pay for her mother and brother’s headstones.
Due to insufficient funding from the ACP, only partial grants were distributed under the program. So, in May, Broncho received a bill for $46.70. In June, she expects to pay the full cost.
When asked if she would stay connected to the Internet without the subsidy, Blancho said, “I would give it a try.” She then added, “I would have to,” even if it meant receiving less service. .
Blancho said she uses the Internet for shopping, watching shows, banking and health care.
Broncho said the Internet is a “necessity.”
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues as one of the agency’s core operating programs Cave —An independent source of health policy research, polling, and news.
