Affordable Connectivity Program: what happened and what is left

What the ACP paid while it ran

The archived FCC program page sums up the benefit in three figures. A household received a discount of up to $30 a month on internet service, or up to $75 on qualifying Tribal lands. It could also get one discount of up to $100 on a laptop, desktop computer or tablet from a participating provider, if it paid more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase. The program was limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.

USAC implemented the ACP using the framework of two FCC programs: the Emergency Broadband Benefit, now defunct, and Lifeline, which USAC calls currently active. That shared machinery explains why many people still confuse the two.

How the program wound down

The end was announced in stages, all listed in the FCC archive. The FCC first warned that the program would end soon barring action by Congress. It then froze enrollment, so no new household could join after February 8, 2024. Next came a formal notice that April 2024 would be the final full month of benefits, followed by letters from the FCC to Congress, to state partners and to Lifeline carriers about the wind-down. The program ended on June 1, 2024.

Households enrolled at the end were encouraged to read the written notices from their internet company and from USAC, and to ask their company how the end of the ACP would change their service and bill.

What the ACP record still shows

The program left a public record that remains useful for anyone trying to understand what changed. USAC keeps its ACP bulletins, an enrollment and claims tracker and additional program data online, and the FCC archive lists the orders that created the program, the outreach grant program created to promote it, the “Your Home, Your Internet” pilot program, and a survey of enrolled households. That survey found that over two-thirds of ACP households had inconsistent or no internet connection before they enrolled, which is the gap Lifeline alone now has to address with a smaller amount.

The record also shows what the ACP was not. It was not a phone program and never paid toward a handset; its device discount covered only a laptop, desktop computer or tablet. It did not replace Lifeline either: the FCC and USAC always treated them as two programs, with separate rules, separate funding and separate enrollments.

Old ACP offers that still circulate

The FCC issued a consumer advisory after the end: some internet providers had not updated their websites and marketing, and some kept collecting personal information from people trying to enroll. Any page in 2026 that promises the ACP monthly credit, the $100 laptop discount or a spot on a list for the program’s return is outdated at best. The FCC’s advice is to file a complaint and, if you entered sensitive details after February 8, 2024, to follow identity theft recovery steps. The scams page covers the Lifeline side of the same problem.

What a former ACP household can still claim

Lifeline was never part of that ending. Under 47 CFR 54.403 it pays up to $9.25 a month on a plan meeting the broadband standard, or $34.25 on qualifying Tribal lands, and the FCC Lifeline page confirms it is available in every state, commonwealth and territory. The test is stricter than many ACP households remember: income at or below $36,882 for a household of three in the 48 states, or a benefit such as SNAP, Medicaid, SSI, public housing or a veterans pension.

Use the calculator below to see what Lifeline is worth over the months you choose, then the side-by-side comparison for each difference between the two programs and the home internet page for the speed and data a plan must offer to earn the discount.