During ACP we put a $30 discount on customer invoices, filed with USAC and got reimbursed by the feds the next month.
When ACP ended, we offered to continue providing a $15 discount, but nobody reimburses us. We absorbed half the $30 hit, the customer absorbed half. We figured it would be tough for a low income household to find an extra $30 in their budget, but if we took the whole hit we would almost be giving away free service. I pulled the $15 solution out of my ass but it seemed like a reasonable compromise. There was an exception, one customer had taken advantage of the rule that we couldn’t disconnect ACP customers for nonpayment, and had paid us nothing, even though he wasn’t on the lowest speed plan. Once ACP ended, we disconnected him and recommended he look into the Verizon Forward program for low income households. This person had also been in the news for defrauding one of his truck repair customers, and had a sizable PPP loan forgiven despite having no employees other than himself, so don’t shed any tears. From: AF <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Josh Luthman Sent: Thursday, December 18, 2025 7:31 AM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ACP gone for how long? What do you mean by you "absorbed" it? On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 5:46 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: We did, but Congress ended funding for ACP early 2024. The only subsidy program left is Lifeline which is less than $10/mo and the provider has to be designated as an ETC. From: AF <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > On Behalf Of Josh Luthman Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2025 4:35 PM To: AnimalFarm Microwave Users Group <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [AFMUG] ACP gone for how long? Why wouldn't you do the ACP paperwork to get reimbursed the $30 discount? That's crazy. On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM Ken Hohhof <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Does it seem like ACP has only been gone 1.5 years? Usually things happened a lot longer ago than I think, but it seems like ACP went away at least 3 years ago. At the time, we absorbed half of the $30 subsidy that was going away, giving our ACP customers a $15/mo discount going forward. Apparently some of them think the government is still giving us money, or that $25/mo is expensive for Internet, or both. But they’re willing to pay up to $400 for a pirate TV box. I’m told that’s probably because they’re comparing that to thousands for sports streaming packages. https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/ACP-FAQs-Post-ACP-Ending.pdf -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com -- AF mailing list [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
-- AF mailing list [email protected] http://af.afmug.com/mailman/listinfo/af_af.afmug.com
