Official Website of Shelby County Indiana Government

Affordable Connectivity Program

What is the ACP?
The Affordable Connectivity Program is a federal government program run by the FCC to help assist individuals and families with overcoming price barriers to internet access. It can help cover the cost of broadband used for school, work, healthcare and more.

Who is eligible?
Per the FCC website, entities eligible for the ACP include: Households where income is at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, or if a member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

  • Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year;
  • Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider’s existing low-income internet program;
  • Participates in one of these assistance programs:
    • The National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision;
    • SNAP
    • Medicaid
    • Federal Public Housing Assistance
    • Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
    • WIC
    • Veterans Pension or Survivor Benefits
    • or Lifeline;
  • Participates in one of these assistance programs and lives on Qualifying Tribal lands:
    • Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
    •  Tribal TANF
    • Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations
    • Tribal Head Start (income based)

How does the ACP work?
If you qualify for the program, it provides a subsidy benefit of up to $30 for most Americans, and up to $75 for Americans on Tribal lands to cover the cost of internet. You can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.

This benefit is designed to be used in conjunction with an internet service provider’s existing plan. To aid in this effort, many ISPs have created special plans that can fully cover the cost of internet, or at least provide a substantial discount.

Want to know which providers in your state participate in the ACP? Use this list here.

There is a limit of one monthly service discount and one device discount per household under the Affordable Connectivity Program.

If you would like to learn more information about the Affordable Connectivity Program, or want to sign up, please visit this link to enroll online. To apply by mail, print this form and mail it to:

USAC ACP Support Center
P.O. Box 7081
London, KY 40742

You can also contact your current internet service provider for help in getting enrolled.

Quick Links
FAQs

A VPN means virtual private network. When one is activated, your data and online activity is shielded from third party trackers by connecting you to a private server before it connects to the server of the website you are visiting. You are given a temporary IP address, and your real, permanent IP address is hidden. This protects your online privacy and security, especially when you are connected to public wifi.

The Indiana Farm Bureau wanted to help bring reliable broadband internet to the State’s most unserved and underserved areas. To answer this need, they created the Indiana Broadband Strategic Partnership in conjunction with other organizations who are passionate about closing the digital divide for Indiana communities. The speed-test is a crowd sourcing platform powered by GEO Partners, LLC which records internet speed tests results in order to form a map of what actual speeds are available and where. Tracking these results will help us form a fuller picture as to which areas are being left out of adequate and reliable broadband internet connectivity. To read more information about the IBSP, visit this page. ***Note that your IFB agents will not be able to give you information regarding this initiative.

Related Documents