Albemarle County awarded $250k; goal to get more households $30 broadband credit

Albemarle County, in collaboration with the City of Charlottesville and the University of Virginia, has been awarded a $250,000 Affordable Connectivity Program Outreach Grant to boost local enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

The program provides relief from the costs of essential broadband service for low-income households.

Managed by the Federal Communications Commission, the program provides a credit of up to $30 per month to eligible households towards monthly broadband costs and includes provisions for access to low-cost devices.

The grant will fund a promotional campaign to increase the community’s awareness of the program and two digital navigator positions to conduct outreach and in-person enrollment assistance.

The FCC’s highly competitive $66 million ACP Outreach Grant Program received and reviewed 350 applications from across the country.

Albemarle County was one of 197 awardees announced in March 2023.

“Analysis by the Commonwealth showed that despite ongoing marketing efforts, enrollment in our area was just 15 percent of eligible households,” stated Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office Director Mike Culp. “This leaves as many as 12,500 eligible Albemarle County households not yet signed up for this important program and we realized the need to expand our efforts.

“Albemarle County has been at the forefront of closing the digital divide through expansions of rural broadband that will help us to achieve universal access by the end of 2025,” said Culp. “Addressing affordability with programs like ACP will help ensure anyone can take advantage of our digital world.”

The digital navigator positions are anticipated to launch in the summer of 2023.