The Divide: How the end of Affordable Connectivity Program is hurting low-income AmericansThe Divide: How the end of Affordable Connectivity Program is hurting low-income Americans

This episode of The Divide features a conversation with Danielle Perry, chief compliance officer at TruConnect, and a board member at the National Lifeline Association (NaLA), where she also chairs NaLA's regulatory and government affairs committee.

The National Lifeline Association is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 dedicated to the preservation of the Lifeline benefit. The Lifeline benefit is a Universal Service Fund (USF) program that provides $9.25/month for telecom services for qualifying low-income households.

Perry returns to the podcast to discuss the results of NaLA's latest consumer survey, conducted in November 2024, which revealed the dire need for an adequate broadband subsidy for low-income US households, and the significant consequences felt by these families and individuals since the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) – a $30 monthly broadband subsidy – in June 2024.

'I simply can't afford to have a phone and Internet'

The survey, based on 68,000 respondents in 11,000 unique zip codes, revealed that with the Lifeline benefit alone, and without the ACP, low-income Americans are facing difficulties affording the Internet and accessing necessary services.

As one respondent told NaLA: "I simply can't afford to have a phone and internet while I'm fighting cancer and can't work at the moment. I chose to have the phone because I need to be able to speak to my doctors."

Related:2024 in review: RIP ACP and WTF USF

Overall, roughly 40% said that without the ACP they've had to reduce spending on essentials including food, medicine, clothing, heating and air conditioning; and another 36% have had to discontinue telehealth and medical monitoring services.

And just how low is "low-income"? Perry tells Light Reading that NaLA was surprised to see 60% of survey respondents had a household income of below $10,000. (The US federal poverty line for an individual as of 2024 was $15,650, as per the Department of Health and Human Services.)

In this episode, we dive further into NaLA's survey results and what they reveal about Americans' need for affordable broadband services.

We also discuss the uncertain fate of the Lifeline program, as the USF awaits a Supreme Court ruling to come later this year regarding its overall constitutionality. NaLA is one of many groups, including large telecom organizations, that has filed an amicus brief defending the USF. Additionally, we touch on the confusion unleashed by the Trump administration last week when it issued a memo (now retracted) freezing federal loans and grants, and the potential implications for USF/Lifeline.

You can see the full results of NaLA's consumer survey on Lifeline and ACP here. For a lightly edited conversation transcript of this episode, click the caption button on the podcast player above.