Rural communities outside Buffalo, nationwide to lose broadband support unless Congress acts

“Fast, reliable internet is no longer a luxury – it is a necessity for everyday life,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said Friday morning during a visit to the Central Library in Buffalo.

More than 1.7 million New York households benefit from the program, which helps low-income households afford high-speed internet.

That number includes more than 97,000 Erie County residents, Gillibrand said.

Congress must provide more funding, she said, or families supported by the program will be forced to pay full price to stay online or lose broadband services.

The Covid-19 pandemic and changes it left in its wake made reauthorization vital in a new American climate where more people work remotely, take online educational courses and handle many of their health care needs online, she said.

“I’m announcing this legislation to allocate more money for the ACP and help close the digital divide,” said the New York Democrat, who supported the original legislation during the pandemic as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed in November 2021.

The program offers a discount of up to $30 per month on internet service and equipment, as well as a one-time $100 discount on a laptop, desktop computer or tablet. The discount can climb to $75 monthly for qualifying rural communities, and for Tribal lands, the discount may be up to $75 per month.

“The ACP was borne out of the pandemic, and now that the crisis seems to have subsided, everyone thinks the problems it highlighted have gone away, too,” said Heidi Ziemer, outreach and digital equity coordinator of the Western New York Library Resources Council. “But digital distress was a reality for many New Yorkers long before the pandemic, and was not created from it.”

Ziemer…