Affordable Connectivity Program, 54401-54411 [2022-18293]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 6, 2022)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 54401-54411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18293]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 54

[WC Docket No. 21-450; FCC 22-65; FR ID 101252]


Affordable Connectivity Program

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Final action.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) establishes a pilot program, titled ``Your Home, Your 
internet,'' designed to increase awareness of and encourage 
participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program for households 
receiving Federal housing assistance.

DATES: The pilot program is established as of September 6, 2022.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sherry Ross, Wireline Competition 
Bureau, (202) 418-7400 or by email at [email protected]. The Federal 
Communications Commission asks that requests for accommodations be made 
as soon as possible in order to allow the agency to satisfy such 
requests whenever possible. Send an email to [email protected] or call the 
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a synopsis of the Commission's Third 
Report and Order in WC Docket No. 21-450; FCC 22-65, adopted on August 
5, 2022 and released on August 8, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 
the Commission's headquarters will be closed to the general public 
until further notice. The full text of this document is available at 
the following internet address: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-releases-rules-implement-affordable-connectivity-program.

Synopsis

I. Introduction

    1. Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission 
(Commission) established the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity 
Program (or ACP). Over 12 million households have signed up to receive 
a $30 benefit (or up to $75 per month for households on qualifying 
Tribal lands) to offset the cost of internet access. For those 
households, the Affordable Connectivity Program can open up a world of 
opportunity. They can work from home, take advantage of telehealth and 
remote schooling, and stay connected with friends and family. The 
Commission is committed to bringing those benefits to the millions more 
eligible households who have not yet signed up. In this document, the 
Commission establishes a pilot program, titled ``Your Home, Your 
internet,'' designed to increase awareness of and encourage 
participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program for households 
receiving Federal housing assistance.
    2. When the Commission adopted the final ACP rules in January 2022, 
it sought comment on a proposal to target outreach and provide 
application support to residents of public housing and other Federal 
housing assistance recipients. By establishing this pilot program, the 
Commission intends to test the best methods to make recipients aware of 
and to help them enroll in the Affordable Connectivity Program. The 
Commission will also use the tools and resources provided to it through 
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Infrastructure Act), such 
as the ability to collaborate with other agencies, including continuing 
and expanding upon existing collaborations, to help households 
receiving Federal housing assistance access affordable broadband 
service.

II. Discussion

    3. In this document, the Commission first identifies discrete ACP 
enhancements and improvements to the ACP application process, the 
effectiveness of which will be tested during the pilot program. Next, 
the Commission establishes a one-year pilot program, ``Your Home, Your 
internet,'' with the goal of increasing awareness of the Affordable 
Connectivity Program among recipients of Federal housing assistance and 
facilitating enrollment in the program by providing targeted assistance 
with completion of the ACP application.
    4. Your Home, Your internet will couple targeted outreach with 
hands-on application assistance. It will test ways to increase ACP 
participation by recipients of Federal housing assistance who are 
eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program but, based on the 
Commission's experience, may not be aware of or enrolled in the 
program. The Commission will select up to 20 pilot participants, which 
may include government entities and third-party organizations serving 
Federal housing assistance recipients, from across the country. The 
Commission intends to select pilot participants from a variety of 
settings, including urban, rural, and Tribal communities. As discussed 
below, applicants may propose a variety of activities, including the 
development of new promotional materials, hands-on application 
assistance, and site-based outreach. Participants will be given the 
option to access the National Verifier to better assist consumers in 
applying for ACP benefits. Participants also will be allowed to apply 
for a grant to fund Your Home, Your internet pilot projects through the 
Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program that the Commission 
adopts in a final rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal 
Register. The Commission has allocated up to $5 million of the $100 
million designated for outreach in the ACP Order, 87 FR 8346, February 
14, 2022, to provide grants to fund Your Home, Your internet pilot 
projects. The Commission also has allocated up to an additional $5 
million to fund its own outreach activities alongside the grant funds 
and may collaborate with the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) and other Federal agency partners that work directly 
with Federal housing assistance recipients to

[[Page 54402]]

increase awareness of and participation in the Affordable Connectivity 
Program among recipients of Federal housing assistance.

A. Commission Actions To Enhance the ACP Application Process

    5. The Commission directs the Wireline Competition Bureau (the 
Bureau) and the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) to take 
several actions that the Commission expects will facilitate more 
efficient ACP access for Federal housing assistance recipients in 
general as well as those working with pilot participants to qualify for 
the Affordable Connectivity Program. To test their effectiveness during 
the pilot program, the Commission commits, where practicable, to making 
these enhancements as expeditiously as possible.
    6. First, based on the record and specific feedback from HUD staff, 
the Commission will change its enrollment materials to include more 
recognizable language to describe Federal Public Housing Assistance 
(FPHA) eligibility so participants in the Native American affordable 
housing, public housing, housing choice voucher, and project-based 
rental assistance (PBRA) programs (PBRA, Section 202, and Section 811) 
can more easily identify the program in which they participate. 
Commenters also argue that there is a lack of clear guidance on what is 
considered to be a qualifying FPHA program. Without further 
explanation, participants in those programs may mistakenly believe they 
do not qualify for the Affordable Connectivity Program. Accordingly, 
the Commission directs the Bureau and USAC to provide explanatory 
language naming Native American affordable housing, public housing, 
housing choice vouchers, and project-based rental assistance in the ACP 
application (including at the point where applicants select the 
qualifying programs in which they participate), in related USAC 
materials, and in the materials created by the Commission.
    7. Second, the Commission directs the Bureau, the Office of General 
Counsel (OGC), the Office of Managing Director (OMD), and USAC to 
expand and swiftly finalize a revised data sharing agreement with HUD 
that would allow more Federal housing assistance recipients to be 
automatically approved for the Affordable Connectivity Program through 
the National Verifier. The National Verifier is designed to ease the 
qualification process by leveraging connections with state and Federal 
database connections. The National Verifier is also an important tool 
for combating waste, fraud, and abuse in the Affordable Connectivity 
Program by validating consumer identity and, with the use of the 
National Lifeline Accountability Database (NLAD), identifying duplicate 
households in the program.
    8. The Commission and HUD have an existing computer matching 
agreement (CMA) and database connection for the automatic eligibility 
verification of households participating in certain FPHA programs. This 
existing agreement, which complies with the Computer Matching and 
Privacy Protection Act of 1988, covers a connection with the HUD 
Inventory Management System/Public Housing Information Center (IMS/PIC) 
database. This connection already allows the National Verifier to 
automatically qualify households that participate in the public housing 
and housing choice voucher programs for the Affordable Connectivity 
Program and Lifeline. Consumers whose eligibility is automatically 
determined by the National Verifier can proceed to enroll in the 
Affordable Connectivity Program. Consumers that are not able to be 
verified through an automated database connection will need to provide 
documentation for manual review.
    9. Because the manual review process is more burdensome than 
automatic eligibility checks--especially for applicants, but also for 
USAC--the Commission is committed to further minimizing the use of 
manual review. To that end, Commission staff are already working with 
HUD staff to explore establishing an additional connection with the 
Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) database that 
would allow more Federal housing assistance recipients to qualify 
automatically. The TRACS database includes tenants receiving rental 
housing assistance through the PBRA, Section 202, and Section 811 
programs and a connection with the TRACS database would allow 
households receiving assistance through those programs to be 
automatically verified without undergoing a manual review process. 
Finalizing that effort will allow more Federal housing assistance 
recipients to enroll faster and with less assistance, allowing pilot 
program participants to stretch their resources further and assist more 
households. Accordingly, the Commission directs the Bureau and USAC to 
expedite the completion of that process so that pilot program 
participants will benefit to the greatest extent possible.
    10. Third, because manual review will continue to be necessary for 
some Federal housing assistance recipients, the Commission directs the 
Bureau and USAC to take steps to expedite the manual review process and 
to test the effectiveness of these actions during the pilot program. 
Currently, USAC provides high-level guidance on the requirements for 
supporting documentation to demonstrate Federal housing assistance 
eligibility Federal housing assistance households may need to contact 
their local public housing agency (PHA) or other Federal housing 
assistance provider (e.g., for PBRA, Section 202, or Section 811 
tenants) for documentation, and those staff may not be aware of the 
Affordable Connectivity Program at all or what documentation the 
household will need. The Commission directs the Bureau and USAC to 
consult with HUD about the types of documentation PHAs and other 
Federal housing assistance providers typically provide and create a 
standardized form to be made available to pilot participants for use by 
an applicant to demonstrate eligibility in a qualifying Federal housing 
assistance program to streamline and expedite the manual review process 
in the National Verifier for Federal housing assistance recipients, 
PHAs, and USAC reviewers.
    11. Finally, the Commission directs USAC, with oversight from the 
Bureau, to designate a direct point of contact at USAC for 
organizations selected to participate in the Your Home, Your internet 
Pilot Program to provide additional support when pilot participants are 
assisting consumers during the application process. This point of 
contact should be trained on issues related to Federal housing 
assistance eligibility and prepared to directly assist pilot 
participants with questions about the ACP application, including any 
documentation requirements. Contact information for this point of 
contact shall be made available to pilot participants to test the 
impact of having a dedicated point of contact for application-related 
questions regarding the qualification process.

B. The ``Your Home, Your Internet'' Pilot Program

    12. Below, the Commission identifies the specifics of the one-year 
Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program. The Commission describes 
eligible entities that may apply to participate, funding for selected 
projects, activities these organizations may undertake as part of the 
pilot program, the procedures and criteria the Bureau will use to 
select the participants, and the metrics the Commission will use when 
evaluating the program's results.

[[Page 54403]]

1. Entities Eligible To Apply
    13. The Commission encourages Federal and non-Federal organizations 
to apply to participate in the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program. 
Applicants may include Federal agencies and their partners, housing 
agencies, and entities that provide ACP support for Federal housing 
assistance recipients, as described further below. The Commission 
recognizes that challenges large housing agencies face may differ from 
smaller providers of federally assisted housing and that Tribal, urban, 
and rural communities may benefit from different approaches. The 
Commission therefore intends to select pilot participants operating in 
a variety of settings in order to generate information about what works 
in different kinds of communities. Congress expressly authorized the 
Commission to target outreach to eligible households, including, in 
particular, to recipients of Federal housing assistance. Congress also 
required the Commission to ``collaborate with relevant Federal agencies 
to ensure that a household that participates in any program that 
qualifies the household for the Affordable Connectivity Program is 
provided information about the Program.'' The Commission recognizes 
that Federal housing assistance recipients live in a variety of 
settings across the country, from single-family homes to large, urban 
housing developments, and that Federal housing assistance operates 
through a web of public housing agencies and private landlords. Thus, 
the decentralized nature of Federal housing assistance requires an 
``all hands'' approach to raising awareness among this group of 
qualifying households that are served by private and public entities 
across the country.
    14. Federal agency partners. The Commission encourages its Federal 
agency partners, many of whom have promoted the Affordable Connectivity 
Program thus far, to singularly or in coordination with other partners 
submit applications for the pilot program with ideas and proposals 
designed to ensure that households participating in public housing or 
receiving Federal housing assistance are provided with information 
about the Affordable Connectivity Program, including application and 
enrollment information.
    15. Given the overlap between the Affordable Connectivity Program 
and Federal housing assistance, the Commission has worked closely with 
HUD in order to raise awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program 
among those eligible households. The Commission expects that this 
relationship will only strengthen further as the collaboration 
continues. This is consistent with commenters that emphasize the need 
to continue to collaborate with HUD. The Commission acknowledges, 
however, that there are Federal agencies beyond HUD that work with 
households that receive Federal housing assistance. For example, 
commenters recommend that the Commission collaborates with the National 
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the 
Department of Education. The Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) urges 
the Commission to reach Tribal households receiving Federal housing 
assistance by coordinating with the Office of Native American Programs 
at HUD, the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of the Interior, 
and the Indian Health Service in the Department of Health and Human 
Services. The Commission agrees with commenters that continuing to 
expand its collaboration within HUD and with other Federal agencies, as 
the Commission is directed to do under the Infrastructure Act, will 
increase its reach and allow more touchpoints with households receiving 
Federal housing assistance. The Commission urges interested Federal 
partners to consider applying to participate in the pilot program and 
to share their expertise.
    16. Non-Federal partners. In addition to Federal agencies, the 
Commission urges state, local, and Tribal housing agencies and non-
profit and community-based organizations working with Federal housing 
assistance recipients to apply to participate in Your Home, Your 
internet. Commenters agree. For example, the Chicago Housing Authority 
argues that empowering local housing agencies and community 
organizations to help spread awareness of the program builds trust. AFN 
urges the Commission to leverage the Tribally Designated Housing 
Entities (TDHE) or the associations representing multiple TDHE, such as 
the Association of Alaska Housing Authorities, for outreach. Starry 
states that the Commission should also consider structuring outreach 
efforts to reach Federal housing assistance recipients who live outside 
of centrally managed public or affordable housing communities. 
Additionally, the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) 
recommends that the Commission collaborate with the San Diego Housing 
Commission to help connect the 16,000 San Diego area households that 
receive Federal Section 8 housing choice voucher rental assistance 
through the San Diego Housing Commission.
    17. The Commission agrees with commenters that the relationships 
that regional, state, local, and Tribal housing agencies and community-
based organizations have fostered with the Federal housing assistance 
recipients whom they support will help the Commission spread awareness 
of the Affordable Connectivity Program. A common theme in the record is 
the need to develop trust to ensure low-income consumers know that the 
Affordable Connectivity Program is a legitimate government program that 
can help reduce a household's monthly internet bill. The Commission is 
persuaded that regional, state, local, and Tribal housing agencies and 
community-based organizations are vital avenues for connecting with 
Federal housing assistance recipients. Therefore, the Commission 
similarly encourages such organizations that serve the needs of this 
target group to submit pilot program proposals designed to help spread 
awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program and encourage 
enrollment during this pilot.
2. Funding
    18. To help support this innovative pilot program, the Commission 
will allocate up to $10 million of the $100 million identified in the 
ACP Order for ACP outreach to support Your Home, Your Internet 
participation. Of this $10 million, up to $5 million will be available 
in the form of grants for use by grant-eligible pilot participants 
under the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program and 
requirements and procedures for applying for such grants will be 
separately announced. The Commission directs the Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) to incorporate the parameters for 
this pilot program into the requirements and procedures for the 
Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program, as applicable. 
Additionally, the Commission will target up to an additional $5 million 
to fund its own outreach efforts, and may coordinate these efforts with 
HUD and other Federal agency partners.
    19. The Commission finds that there likely is substantial need for 
funding to support the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program to 
increase participation among the households residing in public housing 
or receiving Federal housing assistance. This funding will support the 
pilot participants as they seek to reach and connect the households 
living in approximately 5 million available housing units subsidized by 
Federal housing

[[Page 54404]]

assistance. The ACP Order supports such an allocation. It particularly 
names, among the outreach activities for which that money is dedicated, 
``immediate outreach activities and a potential outreach grant 
program.'' The Commission found in the ACP Order that ``a wide range of 
outreach is needed to best promote awareness of and increase 
participating in the Affordable Connectivity Program.'' Funding Your 
Home, Your Internet is also consistent with the statute and 
Congressional intent because the Infrastructure Act allows ``outreach 
efforts to encourage eligible households to enroll in the Affordable 
Connectivity Program.''
    20. A broad and diverse set of commenters agree that the Commission 
must include a funding source as part of the pilot program. 
EducationSuperHighway supports funding to support services to increase 
enrollment, including translation services, outreach materials, and 
device support. Similarly, the California Emerging Technology Fund asks 
the Commission to award grant funding and Los Angeles County supports 
awarding grants to local governments, including counties, cities, and 
other entities to develop hyper-local campaigns. Stewards of Affordable 
Housing for the Future urges the Commission to accompany the 
applications with designated funding to ensure households can 
participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program. The National 
Hispanic Media Coalition asks the Commission to build out grant amounts 
to adequately cover an organization's capacity to apply and comply with 
the grant, as well as plan and implement an outreach program.
3. Eligible Activities
    21. Having established the types of agencies and organizations with 
which the Commission expects to participate in this pilot, the 
Commission now turns to the activities that may be undertaken pursuant 
to the pilot. The Commission encourages applicants to be creative in 
developing pilot program proposals to connect with eligible but so far 
unreached households living in public housing or receiving Federal 
housing assistance. While the Commission identifies potential pilot 
program activities below, the discussion here is not meant to be an 
exhaustive list. As discussed below, the Bureau will provide additional 
guidance in a public notice announcing the application process.
    22. Electronic and Downloadable Content. Since the launch of the 
Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB Program), the Commission and 
USAC have produced and published electronic and downloadable content 
for its partners to use to promote the Affordable Connectivity Program 
and the EBB Program to low-income consumers, including materials in 
languages other than English. This pilot offers the opportunity to 
better serve a specific audience: those who receive assistance from 
Federal housing assistance programs.
    23. Commenters also suggest that toolkits and outreach materials 
specifically tailored to support organizations working with Federal 
housing assistance recipients would make outreach more effective under 
this pilot. For example, Microsoft recommends that toolkits be designed 
to target the staff at the local housing agencies, consumer experts, 
non-profits, digital navigators, and other outreach partners by 
providing information and support to those working directly with the 
Federal housing assistance recipients. Some commenters recommend making 
such toolkits available in multiple languages, as Federal housing 
assistance recipients include non-English speakers as well as those for 
whom English is a second language. The Commission agrees with 
commenters as to the potential benefits of specialized toolkits for 
outreach partners focused on Federal housing assistance recipients. 
Accordingly, the Commission encourages pilot applicants to submit 
proposals for specialized ACP outreach materials for organizations 
working with Federal housing assistance recipients. This may include 
proposals to prepare materials in languages tailored for the 
communities they serve.
    24. Application Assistance. In the ACP Further Notice of Proposed 
Rulemaking (FNPRM), 87 FR 8385, February 14, 2022, the Commission 
sought comment on how to best assist Federal housing assistance 
recipients in accessing or navigating the application process for the 
Affordable Connectivity Program. Commenters indicate that Federal 
housing assistance recipients may face difficulty during the ACP 
application process. Mississippi Center for Justice states that many 
applicants face application challenges, such as language barriers, 
preventing eligible households from applying. Mississippi Center for 
Justice further asserts that the application process requires 
applicants to submit additional documents and applicants may abandon 
their Lifeline or EBB applications, which commenters predicted would 
also occur for ACP applicants. The National Digital Inclusion Alliance 
(NDIA) explains that the application process can be confusing for many 
Federal housing assistance recipients, deterring them from applying.
    25. In the Lifeline program, applicants are permitted to receive 
assistance in the application process from trusted third parties. For 
example, state entities and Tribal partners may request access to the 
National Verifier to assist applicants who are physically present with 
completing and submitting an application for the Lifeline program. To 
gain access to the National Verifier, state or Tribal entity 
representatives must register in the Representative Accountability 
Database (RAD) and indicate their assistance when helping consumers 
submit an application through the National Verifier. Similarly, as with 
the Lifeline program, in the ACP Order, the Commission directed the 
Bureau, in coordination with USAC, to conduct a separate one-year ACP 
Navigator Pilot, granting ``trusted, neutral third-party entities such 
as schools and school districts, or other local or state government 
entities'' access to the National Verifier for the purpose of assisting 
customers with applying for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
    26. The Commission finds support in the record for providing 
limited access to the National Verifier to application assistants or 
navigators to help Federal housing assistance recipients navigate the 
application process for the Affordable Connectivity Program. Commenters 
state that having individuals assist with applications ``would 
alleviate . . . burdens on the applicants and promote additional 
engagement with FPHA recipients.'' The Chicago Housing Authority argued 
that allowing access to the National Verifier database would reduce the 
amount of time it takes to complete the enrollment process to get 
residents enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program. NCTA--The 
Internet & Television Association (NCTA) supports ``the FCC's proposal 
to encourage partner agencies to gain access to the National Verifier 
in order to assist federal housing assistance recipients in applying 
for the Affordable Connectivity Program through the National 
Verifier.''
    27. Based on the record before the Commission and its experience 
with the Lifeline program, the Commission believes that it will be 
beneficial to grant access to the National Verifier to neutral, trusted 
government entities such as state and local housing agencies, Tribally 
Designated Housing Entities, associations representing multiple 
Tribally Designated Housing Entities, or other state, regional, and 
local government entities or their partners for

[[Page 54405]]

purposes of assisting recipients of Federal housing assistance with 
completing and submitting an application for the Affordable 
Connectivity Program, provided that the consumer is physically present 
with the person providing assistance. Therefore, the Commission 
encourages pilot applicants to include requests for access to the 
National Verifier in connection with the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot 
Program and/or the ACP Navigator Pilot.
    28. In addition, some commenters suggested that the Commission 
allow access to the National Verifier to certain trusted tenant 
associations and non-profit or community-based organizations. USTelecom 
comments that the Commission should ``partner with federal, state, and 
local housing authorities, as well as third parties, including national 
and regional housing advocacy organizations, tenant associations, and 
other groups that are already working in this space to assist in 
reaching households in public housing who would benefit from Affordable 
Connectivity Program participation.'' NCTA states that the Commission 
should collaborate with trusted partners that could assist residents in 
applying for the Affordable Connectivity Program based on their 
participation in the Federal housing assistance programs. The 
Commission agrees with commenters that community organizations are well 
positioned to provide one-on-one support and in-person guidance about 
navigating the ACP application in their neighborhoods. Therefore, as 
discussed below, the Commission will allow access to the National 
Verifier to a limited number of tenant associations, on-site service 
coordinators, and non-profit or community-based organizations that 
already have an established partnership with governmental agencies 
participating in the pilot. A tenant association, non-profit, or 
community-based organization may participate in the pilot provided that 
the government entity it is partnering with submits support of the 
partnership. Additionally, enrollment activities through the National 
Verifier must take place in the government entity's facility or other 
location or setting maintained or operated with support from the 
government entity. Tenant associations, on-site service coordinators, 
non-profits, and community-based organizations must have their 
representatives register in the RAD and indicate their assistance when 
helping consumers submit an application through the National Verifier. 
Governmental entities must oversee these organizations to ensure 
adequate safeguards are in place to prevent any misconduct, waste, 
fraud, or abuse and that appropriate measures are in place to protect 
the personally identifiable information of the applicants.
    29. Governmental agencies participating in this pilot (and their 
partners as applicable) must maintain neutrality with respect to ACP 
participating providers when assisting consumers in connection with 
this pilot. Those voluntarily participating in this pilot cannot, when 
assisting applicants, direct consumers to a specific ACP provider's 
website or otherwise recommend a specific ACP provider. Pilot 
participants assisting consumers with the application may, however, 
refer consumers to a list of providers offering ACP service in their 
area. Those providing application assistance through this pilot are 
also prohibited from accepting gifts or other incentives from a 
participating provider that would have the effect of influencing an 
agency or partner to encourage consumers they are assisting to enroll 
with a specific provider. Furthermore, pilot participants may not 
otherwise accept funding in any form, including in-kind contributions, 
from a participating provider or a specific group of participating 
providers (including, but not limited to, broadband industry groups 
such as trade associations) for the purpose of assisting consumers in 
connection with this pilot. As discussed below, these requirements do 
not prohibit activities like sign-up events conducted with ACP 
providers so long as those activities are open to all providers serving 
the relevant location.
    30. Some commenters recommend allowing state, local, and Tribal 
housing agencies to automatically enroll Federal housing assistance 
recipients in the Affordable Connectivity Program, stating that Federal 
housing assistance recipients' eligibility has already been 
prequalified. The National Verifier application is designed to ease the 
qualification process by leveraging connections with state and Federal 
databases. Currently, the National Verifier has a connection with HUD 
to verify applicants' participation in certain FPHA programs, for which 
the Commission, USAC and HUD have entered into a Computer Matching 
Agreement to comply with the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection 
Act of 1988. The National Verifier is also an important tool in 
combating waste, fraud, and abuse in the Affordable Connectivity 
Program by validating consumer identity and, with the use of the NLAD, 
to identify duplicate households in the program. The Commission 
declines at this time to modify the qualification and enrollment 
processes for the Affordable Connectivity Program to allow HUD or 
housing agencies to ``auto-qualify'' or bulk enroll households without 
first requiring a household to submit a National Verifier application. 
Instead, the application assistance tools the Commission adopts as part 
of this pilot will build upon the database connections and existing 
matching agreements related to the National Verifier to further 
streamline the application process for Federal housing assistance 
recipients, while at the same time protecting program integrity and 
consumer choice.
    31. To the extent that pilot applicants have proposals for tools to 
assist in the application process that they may seek to utilize during 
the pilot, the Commission encourages them to submit proposals 
incorporating the use of such application assistance tools to test the 
effectiveness of those tools during the pilot program. One important 
goal of the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program is to identify 
methods to decrease the amount of time and effort needed to sign up for 
the Affordable Connectivity Program, while at the same time protecting 
the integrity of the program. The Commission directs the Bureau, with 
support from USAC, OMD, and OGC, to explore the feasibility of 
permitting the use of such application aids during this pilot, and to 
ensure that the use of such tools is consistent with legal and USAC 
system requirements and will not invite waste, fraud, and abuse into 
the Affordable Connectivity Program. In addition to providing National 
Verifier access to help support the completion of ACP applications, the 
Commission encourages pilot participants to consider as part of their 
proposals ``train the trainer'' events or webinars to educate housing 
organizations, government agencies, and other authorized partners about 
the application and enrollment process and to answer their questions 
about the program.
    32. In the ACP FNPRM, the Commission also sought comment on whether 
the Commission should encourage the entities participating in the pilot 
program to establish on-site assistance locations where eligible 
household members can complete applications for the Affordable 
Connectivity Program. In the ACP FNPRM, the Commission did not define 
or provide examples of on-site assistance locations; however, examples 
from the record include properties where Federal housing assistance

[[Page 54406]]

recipients reside. Commenters agree that those participating in the 
pilot program should establish on-site assistance locations where 
Federal housing assistance recipients can complete ACP applications. 
NDIA states that ``FPHA beneficiaries would benefit enormously from an 
on-site enrollment assistance location where they can complete and 
submit an ACP application in a one-stop manner.'' NDIA further argues 
that ``an on-site assistance location would reduce the application 
burden on households, build trust, and ultimately increase ACP 
enrollment amongst FPHA beneficiaries.'' Local Initiatives Support 
Corporation (LISC) asserts that it is essential to consider 
partnerships that would elevate the Affordable Connectivity Program, 
and in particular should focus on on-site service coordinators at 
properties. NCTA comments that allowing partner agencies to gain access 
to the National Verifier would allow partner agencies to host on-site 
enrollment events and provide immediate support to eligible households 
navigating the application process.
    33. The Commission also acknowledges that ACP participating 
providers serve a pivotal role in enrolling eligible Federal housing 
assistance recipients in the Affordable Connectivity Program. There is 
evidence in the record that housing agencies and cities have had 
success working with providers to offer ACP service to qualified 
households receiving housing assistance. On the other hand, NDIA argues 
that public housing tenants and other recipients of housing assistance 
often distrust providers and NDIA's affiliates have needed to 
participate in calls between qualified households and providers in 
order to complete the enrollment process. Organizations participating 
in the pilot may co-host events with providers, so long as the 
organization maintains neutrality and does not favor a particular 
provider or restrict participation in events to particular providers, 
if multiple ACP providers serve the area. The Commission finds that 
there is value in providers promoting their services to this eligible 
population so long as it is done in compliance with the Commission's 
rules and is consistent with Congress's consumer protection 
requirements. The Commission reminds providers wishing to send their 
agents to a location where there is on-site application assistance of 
the requirements that the Commission established in the ACP Order to 
protect consumers, including the need to provide disclosures about the 
Affordable Connectivity Program and to capture informed consent prior 
to enrolling a household. Providers are prohibited from linking 
enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program to some other action 
such signing up for Lifeline service and from engaging in upselling and 
downselling of ACP services.
    34. USAC will be required to grant access to the National Verifier 
to approved pilot applicants that meet the established requirements for 
such access for purposes of assisting eligible Federal housing 
assistance recipients with the application process. Consistent with 
current practice in the Lifeline program, the Commission requires that 
representatives of the trusted entities granted access to the National 
Verifier in this pilot register in the RAD pursuant to the Commission's 
rules. Entities participating in this pilot must maintain neutrality 
with respect to ACP participating providers when assisting consumers in 
connection with this pilot. Selected pilot participants will be 
required to provide updates to the Bureau regarding their experience 
with the application process, aggregate, non-personally identifiable 
information about the consumers they are assisting, any occurrences or 
incidents involving unauthorized access to the National Verifier (e.g., 
by an unauthorized user), and other aspects of the pilot. To help 
identify the applications that benefited from the application 
assistance made possible through this pilot, the pilot participants 
shall ensure that their assigned representative identification number 
or other identifier as determined by USAC is provided on the 
application. Additional data to be reported by pilot participants and 
the format of the required data shall be determined by the Bureau 
consistent with the direction provided by this document. The data 
collected will assist the Commission in measuring the success of the 
pilot and track the progress towards meeting the pilot program goals. 
The Commission further encourages pilot participants to conduct their 
own evaluations of outreach efforts and share insights with the Bureau. 
Upon conclusion of the year-long pilot program, pilot participants will 
no longer have access to the National Verifier absent further action by 
the Bureau or the Commission.
    35. Finally, the Commission recognizes the important role that 
navigators can play in helping all eligible households, including those 
not receiving Federal housing assistance, manage the ACP application 
process. To learn more about those opportunities, the Commission will 
also be establishing guidance for participation in a separate Navigator 
Pilot that will focus on helping other ACP eligible households with the 
application. Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program participants are 
eligible to participate in the separate ACP Navigator Pilot, and the 
Commission encourages them to consider participating in both to ensure 
the widest impact to the Affordable Connectivity Program. To that end, 
the Commission directs the Bureau, in consultation with USAC, to 
consider ways to streamline the application processes and necessary 
training to permit entities qualified to serve in the Your Home, Your 
Internet Pilot Program and the ACP Navigator pilots to participate in 
both. The efficiencies gained by allowing dual participation by 
entities qualified to participate in both pilots will allow the 
Commission to quickly stand up and track progress toward the goals the 
Commission has established for each pilot. The Commission directs the 
CGB, including the Office of Native Affairs and Policy, and the Office 
of Communications Business Opportunities (OCBO), in coordination with 
the Bureau and USAC, to promote both pilots among entities likely to be 
eligible to participate.
4. Application Procedures and Selection Criteria
    36. Below the Commission discusses the required procedures for 
entities eligible and interested in applying to participate in the Your 
Home, Your Internet Pilot Program. The Commission next discusses the 
selection criteria the Bureau will use to select up to 20 Your Home, 
Your internet participants.
    37. Application Process. Eligible entities seeking to participate 
in the pilot program must apply and be approved by the Bureau. The 
Commission directs the Bureau, in coordination with other Bureaus and 
Offices, as necessary, to establish an application review process for 
interested pilot participants consistent with this document. The 
Commission directs the Bureau to establish an application window during 
which interested entities seeking approval to participate in the pilot 
program will receive guaranteed consideration of their submitted 
application. The Commission believes that establishing this window will 
not only allow the Bureau to select a diverse group of pilot 
participants, but also encourage selected entities to work quickly to 
ensure appropriate measures are in place to assist Federal housing 
assistance recipients with navigating the ACP application. The 
Commission directs the

[[Page 54407]]

Bureau to consider the timing of available grant awards for the 
Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program when considering the 
deadlines for the filing window.
    38. As a part of the application process, interested entities will 
be required to submit a detailed proposal explaining their plan. 
Applicants should also be prepared to submit, at a minimum, information 
about the entities including any partnerships; the geographic areas 
(including whether rural, urban, tribal, or other) and constituencies 
the entity intends to serve (including estimates of the number of 
eligible households with which the entity would engage); housing or 
other state, local, or Tribal agencies with which the entity works; and 
to provide a description of the entity's role in the community which it 
is serving. Tenant associations, non-profits, and community-based 
organizations should also include information about the government 
entity providing support for their partnership as well as describing 
the nature of the partnership.
    39. Selection Criteria. In order to increase participation in the 
Affordable Connectivity Program, the Commission's goal is to select 
applications that target areas with lower program participation rates 
and areas where application assistants or navigators will have the most 
impact on addressing barriers Federal housing assistance recipients 
face when navigating the ACP application. The Commission directs the 
Bureau to review applications and select entities to participate in the 
pilot program in a manner that ensures a geographically diverse group 
of pilot participants, representing both urban and rural areas. Within 
60 days of the release of this document, the Commission directs the 
Bureau to issue a public notice announcing the pilot application 
requirements and the deadline for submitting applications during the 
window. In order to increase the chances of attracting a diverse 
variety of applications, the application window will be open for no 
fewer than 28 days. Interested entities should not submit applications 
to participate in this pilot prior to the opening of the window. The 
Commission further delegates authority to the Bureau to provide 
additional guidance to prospective pilot participants where necessary 
to carry out this document.
    40. Participation in the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program 
will initially be limited to no more than 20 participants. Depending on 
pilot program demand from entities seeking to participate, the 
Commission delegates to the Bureau the option to accept more than 20 
participants into the pilot program if doing so would further the goals 
of the pilot. The Commission directs the Bureau to establish necessary 
systems and processes to fairly and systematically review pilot 
applications. Applicants will be notified by the Bureau of their 
selection to participate in the pilot. The Commission further directs 
the Bureau to consolidate, where possible, the application process for 
the ACP Navigator Pilot with this pilot to allow participation by 
entities that are eligible to participate in both.
5. Metrics for Evaluating the Success of Pilot Project
    41. In order to properly analyze the results of the Your Home, Your 
Internet Pilot Program, the Commission adopts requirements for pilot 
participants to provide data and other information necessary for the 
Bureau to issue a report summarizing the results of the pilot. The 
Commission directs the Bureau to submit a report to the Commission 
after the conclusion of the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program to 
inform the Commission's future efforts to facilitate the Affordable 
Connectivity Program application process for households receiving 
Federal housing assistance.
    42. Data. When adopting the ACP rules, the Commission directed 
Commission staff, with support from USAC, to collect data, including 
possibly via a survey, that measures the general public's awareness of 
the Affordable Connectivity Program. The Commission directs the Bureau 
and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA), with support from 
USAC, to work with the entities that participate in the pilot to 
collect information that could be used to measure program performance 
while balancing the additional burdens such coordination may impose on 
the pilot participants. Helpful data may include the number, location 
(city and state), nature of their outreach, and type (local, state, 
Tribal, Federal, non-profit, community-based organization, etc.) of 
trusted partners that participate in the pilot. In addition, the 
Commission directs USAC to collect data regarding the number of 
applications started, applications completed, and subsequent 
enrollments of self-reported Federal housing assistance recipients that 
have been assisted by trusted partners. Surveys may be used to gather 
additional information which may not be captured through available data 
sources. The Commission gives the Bureau, OEA, and USAC the option to 
conduct surveys on the awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program 
among Federal housing assistance program participants and any 
enrollment barriers these households may have faced. Additionally, to 
help protect participants' personally identifiable information, the 
Commission delegates to the Bureau the authority to issue additional 
guidance addressing the appropriate and necessary protections regarding 
the collection of participant data.
    43. Performance Goals. Through this pilot program, the Commission 
aims to increase awareness of and participation in the Affordable 
Connectivity Program among the Federal housing assistance recipients 
and to identify the barriers to enrollment for Federal housing 
assistance recipients. To that end, it is important to establish 
performance measurements and goals to determine how the Commission can 
ensure maximum participation by qualified Federal housing assistance 
recipients during and beyond the pilot's term.
    44. To evaluate the success of the Your Home, Your Internet Pilot 
Program, it will be important to track applications and enrollments and 
to solicit feedback from partners and households about their experience 
enrolling in the Affordable Connectivity Program. The Commission 
directs the Bureau and OEA, with support from USAC, to track and 
collect appropriate data and to further develop metrics to determine 
progress toward the pilot's goal of increasing awareness of and 
enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program among households 
participating in qualifying Federal housing assistance programs. The 
Commission directs OEA, the Bureau, and USAC to consider tracking, for 
both Federal housing assistance and non-Federal housing assistance 
households: the ratio of enrollments to qualified applications; the 
ratio of qualified applications to all applications; and the 
participation rate for Federal housing assistance recipients and all 
households to measure any improvement in these metrics as a result of 
the pilot. Because households receiving Federal housing assistance may 
well participate in other ACP-qualifying programs, the Commission 
expects that this analysis will necessarily rely to some extent on 
households to self-report that they receive Federal housing assistance 
on their ACP application form. The Commission encourages partners to 
remind households completing the application to indicate all of the 
qualifying programs in which they participate so that the Commission 
can

[[Page 54408]]

better identify and track the households that self-report as receiving 
Federal housing assistance, even if those households ultimately are 
qualified based on income, their participation in Medicaid, or another 
qualifying program. To the extent possible, the Commission directs OEA 
and the Bureau, with assistance from USAC, to identify ways in which 
HUD can provide relevant information to construct measures of 
performance, including checking current qualified subscribers against 
HUD databases to identify subscribers who participate in Federal 
housing assistance programs but did not indicate so on their 
application.
    45. The Commission also directs the Bureau, in coordination with 
USAC and OEA, to identify ways in which program requirements, 
application and enrollment processes, and the ways in which the 
Affordable Connectivity Program is promoted can better serve Federal 
housing assistance recipients. For example, Chicago Housing Authority 
argues that because some households do not have an email address, 
establishing one when applying through the online application can 
result in delays. Through this pilot, the Commission can track how the 
email address requirement impacts the timely completion of the ACP 
application.
    46. Final report. Within 180 days of the completion of the one-year 
pilot, the Commission directs the Bureau to send a report to the 
Commission summarizing its results. The report should describe the Your 
Home, Your Internet Pilot Program's successes and challenges and 
include recommendations on further action to increase participation in 
the Affordable Connectivity Program among Federal housing assistance 
recipients, including addressing, consistent with the program 
requirements set forth in the Infrastructure Act and the Commission's 
obligation to limit waste, fraud, and abuse in the Affordable 
Connectivity Program, barriers to enrollment. In developing the report, 
staff should consider the experience of the trusted entities granted 
access to the National Verifier and the impact granting this access to 
the National Verifier had on the number of qualified applications for 
those who receive Federal housing assistance. The Bureau, OEA, or USAC 
may also conduct focus groups or send a questionnaire/survey to pilot 
participants assisting Federal housing assistance recipients with the 
application to help with these and other questions. Based on findings 
in the final pilot report and feedback from pilot participants, the 
Bureau and/or USAC may release additional guidance regarding the 
potential expansion of access to the National Verifier to assist with 
completion of the ACP application.
    47. It is clear from the record that the groups that serve Federal 
housing assistance recipients are mobilized and eager to continue to 
work with Federal housing assistance recipients to maximize the 
benefits offered through the Affordable Connectivity Program. The pilot 
the Commission establishes is just one of the tools the Commission is 
standing up to target eligible households to increase their 
participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program. Through the Your 
Home, Your Internet Pilot Program the Commission adopts, along with the 
ACP Navigator Pilot, and the Outreach Grant Order and the Notice of 
Funding Opportunity anticipated for the fall, the Commission will 
empower its governmental and non-profit partners with the tools to 
reach more eligible households to promote the Affordable Connectivity 
Program and to encourage their participation. To that end, the 
Commission directs the Bureau, in coordination with other Offices and 
Bureaus, as well as USAC, to establish this pilot program consistent 
with the timetables the Commission adopts in this document to expand 
program awareness and to assist with the completion of the 
applications. The Commission also delegates to the Bureau the authority 
to make modifications to the National Verifier to implement 
recommendations in the final report to address any barriers to 
enrollment, consistent with program requirements set forth in the 
Infrastructure Act as well as the Commission's obligation to limit 
waste, fraud, and abuse in the Affordable Connectivity Program. The 
Commission also encourages those entities that plan to participate in 
this pilot program to look for guidance to be issued in the coming 
months on the ACP Navigator Pilot and Outreach Grant Program funding 
opportunities to boost the grassroots support to eligible households 
the Commission enables through these pilots.

III. Procedural Matters

    48. Regulatory Flexibility Act. The Regulatory Flexibility Act of 
1980, as amended (RFA), requires that an agency prepare a final 
regulatory flexibility analysis ``whenever an agency promulgates a 
final rule under [5 U.S.C. 553], after being required by that section 
or any other law to publish a general notice of proposed rulemaking.'' 
The Commission's Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference 
Information Center, will send a copy of the Third Report and Order, 
including the FRFA, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration (SBA). Consistent with the Regulatory 
Flexibility Act of 1980, as amended (RFA), an Initial Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (IRFA) was incorporated in the Affordable 
Connectivity Program Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ACP FNPRM). 
The Commission sought written public comment on proposals in the ACP 
FNPRM, including comment on the IRFA. The Commission did not receive 
any comments in response to this IRFA. This Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis (FRFA) conforms to the RFA.

A. Need for, and Objectives of, This Final Action

    49. The Affordable Connectivity Program provides a monthly discount 
of up to $30 per month (and up to $75 per month for households on 
qualifying Tribal lands) as well as a one-time $100 discount toward a 
laptop, desktop computer, or tablet. When adopting the final rules for 
the Affordable Connectivity Program, the Commission sought further 
comment on a proposal to target outreach and provide application 
support to residents of public housing and other Federal Public Housing 
Assistance (FPHA) recipients that are eligible for the Affordable 
Connectivity Program.
    50. The ACP FNPRM proposed and sought comment on a pilot program 
focused on expanding ACP participation by FPHA program (including 
housing choice voucher program (Section 8), project-based rental 
assistance, and public housing) recipients including increasing 
awareness and assisting with navigating the ACP enrollment process. To 
that end, the Commission proposed and sought comment on a pilot program 
to develop partnerships with agencies that administer the FPHA programs 
for collaborative cross-agency outreach and marketing regarding the 
Affordable Connectivity Program to recipients of those housing 
programs. The ACP FNPRM sought comment on how the Commission could 
structure this pilot, how to make the pilot effective, data sources the 
Commission could use to identify locations for this pilot, and how to 
measure the success of the pilot. In this document, the Commission 
establishes a one-year pilot program with the goal of increasing 
awareness of the Affordable Connectivity Program among Federal housing 
assistance recipients and facilitating enrollment into the program by 
providing targeted assistance with completion of the ACP application. 
The document sets forth the details of the pilot by identifying the

[[Page 54409]]

government entities and third-party organizations who may apply to 
participate in the pilot to gain limited access to the National 
Verifier to help Federal housing assistance recipients complete and 
submit their ACP applications. The document also identifies changes to 
the ACP application process, the success of which will be tested in the 
Your Home, Your Internet Pilot Program.

B. Summary of Significant Issues Raised by Public Comments in Response 
to the IRFA

    51. The Commission did not receive comments that specifically 
addressed the IRFA contained in the ACP FNPRM.

C. Response to Comments by the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration

    52. Pursuant to the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010, which amended 
the RFA, the Commission is required to respond to any comments filed by 
the Chief Counsel of the Small Business Administration (SBA), and to 
provide a detailed statement of any changes made to the proposed 
rule(s) as a result of those comments.
    53. The Chief Counsel did not file any comments in response to the 
ACP FNPRM.

D. Description and Estimate of the Number of Small Entities to Which 
the Final Action Will Apply

    54. The RFA directs agencies to provide a description of, and where 
feasible, an estimate of the number of small entities that may be 
affected by the proposed rules, if adopted. The RFA generally defines 
the term ''small entity'' as having the same meaning as the terms 
``small business,'' ``small organization,'' and ``small governmental 
jurisdiction.'' In addition, the term ``small business'' has the same 
meaning as the term ``small business concern'' under the Small Business 
Act. A small business concern is one that: (1) is independently owned 
and operated; (2) is not dominant in its field of operation; (3) 
satisfies any additional criteria established by the Small Business 
Administration (SBA).
    55. Small Businesses, Small Organizations, Small Governmental 
Jurisdictions. The Commission's actions, over time, may affect small 
entities that are not easily categorized at present. The Commission 
therefore describes here, at the outset, three broad groups of small 
entities that could be directly affected herein. First, while there are 
industry specific size standards for small businesses that are used in 
the regulatory flexibility analysis, according to data from the Small 
Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy, in general a small 
business is an independent business having fewer than 500 employees. 
These types of small businesses represent 99.9% of all businesses in 
the United States, which translates to 32.5 million businesses.
    56. Next, the type of small entity described as a ``small 
organization'' is generally ``any not-for-profit enterprise which is 
independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field.'' 
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses a revenue benchmark of $50,000 
or less to delineate its annual electronic filing requirements for 
small exempt organizations. Nationwide, for tax year 2020, there were 
approximately 447,689 small exempt organizations in the U.S. reporting 
revenues of $50,000 or less according to the registration and tax data 
for exempt organizations available from the IRS.
    57. Finally, the small entity described as a ``small governmental 
jurisdiction'' is defined generally as ``governments of cities, 
counties, towns, townships, villages, school districts, or special 
districts, with a population of less than fifty thousand.'' U.S. Census 
Bureau data from the 2017 Census of Governments indicate that there 
were 90,075 local governmental jurisdictions consisting of general 
purpose governments and special purpose governments in the United 
States. Of this number there were 36,931 general purpose governments 
(county, municipal and town or township) with populations of less than 
50,000 and 12,040 special purpose governments--independent school 
districts with enrollment populations of less than 50,000. Accordingly, 
based on the 2017 U.S. Census of Governments data, the Commission 
estimates that at least 48,971 entities fall into the category of 
``small governmental jurisdictions.''
    58. Wired Broadband Internet Access Service Providers (Wired ISPs). 
Providers of wired broadband internet access service include various 
types of providers except dial-up internet access providers. Wireline 
service that terminates at an end user location or mobile device and 
enables the end user to receive information from and/or send 
information to the internet at information transfer rates exceeding 200 
kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one direction is classified as a 
broadband connection under the Commission's rules. Wired broadband 
internet services fall in the Wired Telecommunications Carriers 
industry. The SBA small business size standard for this industry 
classifies firms having 1,500 or fewer employees as small. U.S. Census 
Bureau data for 2017 show that there were 3,054 firms that operated in 
this industry for the entire year. Of this number, 2,964 firms operated 
with fewer than 250 employees.
    59. Additionally, according to Commission data on internet access 
services as of December 31, 2018, nationwide there were approximately 
2,700 providers of connections over 200 kbps in at least one direction 
using various wireline technologies. The Commission does not collect 
data on the number of employees for providers of these services, 
therefore, at this time the Commission is not able to estimate the 
number of providers that would qualify as small under the SBA's small 
business size standard. However, in light of the general data on fixed 
technology service providers in the Commission's 2020 Communications 
Marketplace Report, the Commission believes that the majority of 
wireline internet access service providers can be considered small 
entities.
    60. Wireless Broadband Internet Access Service Providers (Wireless 
ISPs or WISPs). Providers of wireless broadband internet access service 
include fixed and mobile wireless providers. The Commission defines a 
WISP as ``[a] company that provides end-users with wireless access to 
the Internet[.]'' Wireless service that terminates at an end user 
location or mobile device and enables the end user to receive 
information from and/or send information to the internet at information 
transfer rates exceeding 200 kilobits per second (kbps) in at least one 
direction is classified as a broadband connection under the 
Commission's rules. Neither the SBA nor the Commission have developed a 
size standard specifically applicable to Wireless Broadband Internet 
Access Service Providers. The closest applicable industry with an SBA 
small business size standard is Wireless Telecommunications Carriers 
(except Satellite). The SBA size standard for this industry classifies 
a business as small if it has 1,500 or fewer employees. U.S. Census 
Bureau data for 2017 show that there were 2,893 firms in this industry 
that operated for the entire year. Of that number, 2,837 firms employed 
fewer than 250 employees.
    61. Additionally, according to Commission data on internet access 
services as of December 31, 2018, nationwide there were approximately 
1,209 fixed wireless and 71 mobile wireless providers of connections 
over 200 kbps in at least one direction. The Commission does not 
collect data on the number of employees for providers of these 
services, therefore, at this time the

[[Page 54410]]

Commission is not able to estimate the number of providers that would 
qualify as small under the SBA's small business size standard. However, 
based on data in the Commission's 2020 Communications Marketplace 
Report on the small number of large mobile wireless nationwide and 
regional facilities-based providers, the dozens of small regional 
facilities-based providers and the number of wireless mobile virtual 
network providers in general, as well as on terrestrial fixed wireless 
broadband providers in general, the Commission believes that the 
majority of wireless internet access service providers can be 
considered small entities.

E. Description of Projected Reporting, Recordkeeping, and Other 
Compliance Requirements

    62. In this document the Commission establishes the requirements 
for the pilot program designed to increase awareness of and 
participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program among Federal 
housing assistance recipients. For eligible entities seeking to 
participate in the pilot program the Commission adopted an application 
process that requires, at minimum, entities to submit information about 
the entities including any partnerships; their geographic areas 
(including whether rural, urban, or other) and constituencies the 
entity intends to serve (including estimates of the number of eligible 
households with which the entity would engage); housing or other state, 
local, or Tribal authorities with which the entity works; and to 
provide a description of the entity's role in the community which it is 
serving. Tenant associations, non-profits, or community-based 
organizations should include, as a part of their application, 
information about the government entity providing support for their 
partnership as well as describing the nature of the partnership. In 
order to increase participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program, 
the Commission's goal is to select applications that target areas with 
low program participation rates and areas where application assistants 
or navigators will have the most impact on addressing barriers Federal 
housing assistance recipients face when navigating the ACP application. 
The Commission therefore, established an application window, during 
which interested entities seeking approval to participate in the pilot 
program will receive guaranteed consideration of their submitted 
application. The Bureau, will select pilot participants based on 
applications, and applicant's responses to the information criteria 
listed above. Applicants that seek funding for their pilot program 
activities will need to abide by any application requirements 
established in the Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program.
    63. Similar to the current practice in the Lifeline program, the 
Commission will require representatives of the entities granted access 
to the National Verifier to register in the RAD. Also, selected pilot 
participants will be required to provide updates to the Bureau and USAC 
regarding their experience with the application process, aggregate, 
non-personally identifiable information about the consumers they are 
assisting, any occurrences or incidents involving unauthorized access 
to the National Verifier (e.g., by an unauthorized user), and other 
aspects of the pilot. Additionally, in order to help identify the 
applications that benefited from the application assistance made 
possible through this pilot, assistants shall ensure that their 
assigned representative identification number or other identifier as 
determined by USAC is provided on the application. Additional data to 
be reported by pilot participants and the format of the required data 
shall be determined by the Bureau consistent with the direction 
provided by this document. The Commission encourages pilot participants 
to conduct their own evaluations of outreach efforts and share insights 
with the Bureau.
    64. The Commission will require the Bureau and the Office of 
Economics and Analytics (OEA), with support from USAC, to work with 
entities that participate in this pilot to collect information that 
could be used to measure program performance. Helpful data may include 
the number, location (city and state), the nature of their outreach, 
and type (local, state, Federal, non-profit, community-based 
organization, etc.) of trusted partners that participate in this pilot. 
Surveys may be used to gather additional information which may not be 
captured through available data sources. The Commission gives the 
Bureau, OEA, and USAC the option to conduct surveys on the awareness of 
the Affordable Connectivity Program among Your Home, Your Internet 
participants and any enrollment barriers these households may have 
faced. Additionally, to help protect participants' personally 
identifiable information, the Commission delegates to the Bureau the 
authority to issue additional guidance addressing the appropriate and 
necessary protections regarding the collection of participant data.

F. Steps Taken To Minimize Significant Economic Impact on Small 
Entities, and Significant Alternatives Considered

    65. The RFA requires an agency to describe any significant 
alternatives that it has considered in reaching its approach, which may 
include the following four alternatives (among others): ``(1) the 
establishment of differing compliance or reporting requirements or 
timetables that take into account the resources available to small 
entities; (2) the clarification, consolidation, or simplification of 
compliance and reporting requirements under the rule for such small 
entities; (3) the use of performance rather than design standards; and 
(4) an exemption from coverage of the rule, or any part thereof, for 
such small entities.''
    66. The Commission has considered the economic impact on small 
entities in reaching its final conclusions and taking action in this 
proceeding. The pilot program that the Commission establish in this 
document will help to identify and address barriers to enrollment for 
Federal housing assistance recipients and provide an efficient 
application process for all pilot participants, including small 
entities. The Commission intends to minimize the burdens imposed on 
small entities where doing so would not compromise the goals of the 
Affordable Connectivity Program and this pilot program. The regulatory 
burdens, such as the voluntary application process and data collection, 
can be used to measure program performance while balancing the 
additional burdens that may be imposed on Your Home, Your Internet 
Pilot Program participants. The Commission will continue to examine 
alternatives in the future with the objective of eliminating 
unnecessary regulations and minimizing any significant impact on small 
entities.

G. Report to Congress

    67. The Commission will send a copy of the Third Report and Order, 
including the FRFA, in a report to be sent to Congress pursuant to the 
Congressional Review Act. In addition, the Commission will send a copy 
of the Third Report and Order, including this FRFA, to the Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy of the SBA. A copy of the Third Report and Order, 
including the FRFA (or summaries thereof), will also be published in 
the Federal Register.
    68. Congressional Review Act. The Commission has determined, and 
the Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,

[[Page 54411]]

Office of Management and Budget, concurs, that this rule is ``non-
major'' under the Congressional Review Act, 5 U.S.C. 804(2). The 
Commission will send a copy of the Third Report and Order to Congress 
and the Government Accountability Office pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 
801(a)(1)(A).
    69. Paperwork Reduction Act. Pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 1752(h)(2), the 
collection of information sponsored or conducted under the regulations 
promulgated in the Third Report and Order is deemed not to constitute a 
collection of information for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction 
Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521.

IV. Ordering Clauses

    70. Accordingly, it is ordered that, pursuant to the authority 
contained in Section 904 of Division N, Title IX of the Consolidated 
Appropriations Act, 2021, Public Law 116-260, 134 Stat. 1182, as 
amended by Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Public Law 117-58, 
135 Stat. 429 (2021), the Report and Order is adopted.
    71. It is further ordered that the Office of the Managing Director, 
Performance Evaluation and Records Management, shall send a copy of the 
Third Report and Order in a report to be sent to Congress and the 
Government Accountability Office pursuant to the Congressional Review 
Act, 5 U.S.C. 801(a)(1)(A).
    72. It is further ordered, that the Commission's Consumer and 
Governmental Affairs Bureau, Reference Information Center, shall send a 
copy of the Third Report and Order, including the Final Regulatory 
Flexibility Analysis, to the Chief Counsel for Advocacy of the Small 
Business Administration.

Federal Communications Commission.
Sheryl Todd,
Deputy Secretary, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-18293 Filed 9-2-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P