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Law360 (June 7, 2021, 5:06 PM EDT) -- The Federal Communications Commission's COVID-19 connectivity program is going strong as more than 2.3 million households across the country have signed up to receive subsidized internet service and connected devices in less than a month, the agency announced Monday.
As participation in the Emergency Broadband Benefit is booming, acting FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said her agency is also working to make details about the program's inner workings transparent and accessible.
"I am thrilled to see that the great need for affordable broadband support is being met with over 2 million households enrolled in three short weeks," Rosenworcel said in a statement. "I've also said we need good data to know how the program is progressing and to inform any long-term efforts to address broadband affordability. This information is now available to the public as we always intended."
The EBB coronavirus-response program subsidizes up to $50 of a qualifying household's monthly internet bill or up to $75 of monthly internet service on tribal lands. It can also cover $100 toward a one-time equipment purchase that would allow households to get online as long as the household purchases the equipment through its internet provider.
Of the about 1,000 providers that have agreed to become EBB providers, FCC data shows that only about 100 of those companies, or roughly 10%, also offer subsidized devices. But that doesn't mean that participation in the connectivity program has been flagging: According to the FCC, roughly 1 million households signed up for the EBB in the first week that it was available.
In a May 28 order, the FCC clarified that ISPs participating in the EBB can be reimbursed for laptops and tablets they sell to customers even if a user later changes providers, offering more incentive for ISPs to pair their subsidized internet service with low-cost device offerings.
According to the agency's new dashboard that tracks program participation, households in all 50 states as well as in Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa have signed up for the EBB.
The state with the highest level of participation is Ohio, with about 147,000 households enrolled in the state, followed by Texas, with about 134,700 enrolled households, New York, with about 112,300 enrolled households, and Florida, with 106,900 enrolled households.
The $3.2 billion program will last for an indeterminate amount of time until all the money has been claimed. The tracker, maintained by the Universal Service Administrative Co., does not yet have an estimate of how much of the funds have already been consumed.
--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
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