Enrollments for a US government program that subsidizes fees for Internet service for low-income households will end on Thursday and could shut down by April. This will leave people who depend on the service for remote employment without a way to pay for broadband access. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is currently used by nearly 23 million Americans, allowing them to save more than $500 million per month on internet bills. It is set to run out of money in a few months; consumers have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 7 to be approved and enrolled with a service provider to take part. The program, which is limited to one monthly service and one device per household, provides up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible subscribers can also receive a one-time discount to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers. Federal Communications Commission Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told Congress last week that without further funding, Thursday’s enrollment freeze is necessary to slow the depletion of financial resources and reduce volatility in the program. A spokesman for the program declined to comment on how many subscribers use ACP for remote work, which surged during the COVID-19 pandemic and has held fairly steady even after stay-at-home restrictions ended. A Gartner global labor market survey found that even though workers were given the all-clear to return to the office in recent years, the number of hybrid workers — where people work at least one but fewer than five days in the office — stayed relatively flat, according to Tori Paulman, senior director analyst, Digital Workplace for Gartner Group. The end of ACP could leave some remote workers in limbo, leading them or their employers to seek alternatives. Remote workers need reliable broadband service, and even in an ubiquitously connected world, that’s not always an option for people, depending on their income or service areas. In fact, the biggest challenge for remote and hybrid workers since the pandemic has been to keep all employees connected to organizational culture and ensuring equity across their work experience, Paulman said, adding that stipends by companies to employees to this end “vary widely from company to company and have been a contentious topic since the initial pivot home some years ago.” The fate of the program is currently in the hands of Congress; lawmakers in both the Senate and House of Representatives are now considering separate bipartisan bills that would provide billions more to keep ACP running. In the meantime, organizations continue to hash out what managing a remote and/or hybrid workforce looks like to them, recognizing that “there is no one-size-fits all model for every worker and every team,” Paulman said. Widespread support The good news for the program and those using it…
2024-02-11 01:00:03
Source from www.computerworld.com