Diversity Equity Inclusion: Digital Inclusion

The New York State Broadband Assessment Program program is trying to collect as much information as possible about broadband accessibility and needs throughout the state. Please fill out their survey (and, if applicable, do the speed test) for your home and/or business. Libraries can promote this survey in order to get the most accurate results for their respective communities. 

Call 1-855-692-2627 to request a paper copy of the survey if it cannot fill it out online.

More resources can be found on the Empire State Broadband Toolkit.

Digital mapping can be used to to learn whether a geographic area or community has reliable access to internet capability. 

The Affordable Connectivity Program is a permanent FCC benefit program that helps ensure that households can afford the broadband they need for work, school, healthcare and more.

The benefit provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands. Eligible households can also receive a one-time discount of up to $100 to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet from participating providers if they contribute more than $10 and less than $50 toward the purchase price.

The Affordable Connectivity Program is limited to one monthly service discount and one device discount per household.

Who Is Eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program?

A household is eligible if a member of the household meets at least one of the criteria below:

• Has an income that is at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines; or
• Participates in certain assistance programs, such as SNAP, Medicaid, Federal Public Housing Assistance, SSI, WIC, or Lifeline;
• Participates in Tribal specific programs, such as Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance, Tribal TANF, or Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations;
• Is approved to receive benefits under the free and reduced-price school lunch program or the school breakfast program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020, 2020-2021, or 2021-2022 school year;
• Received a Federal Pell Grant during the current award year; or
• Meets the eligibility criteria for a participating provider's existing low-income program.

Emergency Broadband Benefit recipients fully enrolled as of December 31, 2021 will automatically continue to receive their current monthly benefit until March 1, 2022. You can learn more the program transition and steps you may need to take to stay enrolled after March 1st, by visiting fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit.

Two Steps to Enroll

Apply Now

1. Go to ACPBenefit.org to submit an application or print out a mail-in application.
2. Contact your preferred participating provider to select a plan and have the discount applied to your bill.

Some providers may have an alternative application that they will ask you to complete.

Eligible households must both apply for the program and contact a participating provider to select a service plan.

Find Lifeline and ACP providers in your zip code

Consumer FAQ

Lookup Participating Providers

Consumer Outreach Toolkit

• Coverage Maps 

• NYS Lifeline Phone Program 

Digital Navigators are people trained to address digital inequity issues. They help individual community members with accessing internet connectivity at home, obtaining affordable devices, and developing digital skills.