By Ryan Johnston
The Technology Learning Collaborative (“TLC”) is the preeminent non-profit organization driving digital literacy, access, and inclusion conversations in the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With over three-hundred members, TLC is dedicated to increasing digital and media literacy, and providing career and educational training and technology access wherever they can.
To further the mission, on October 5th, 2023, TLC held its ninth annual conference entitled “Building Connections: Strengthening our Digital Equity Community.” The convening included welcoming remarks from TLC’s Executive Director, Andy Stutzman; a keynote panel including former Next Century Cities Executive Director, Francella Ochillo; Senior Fellow for the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, Gigi Sohn; and President of Centri Tech Foundation, Marta Uquilla. The keynote encouraged centering diverse community voices in broadband planning in order to meet the wide variety of connectivity challenges that cities, counties, towns, and villages are facing today.
Ryan Johnston, Next Century Cities’ Senior Policy Counsel for Federal Programs, joined a breakout session panel on the success of the Affordable Connectivity (“ACP”) and the future of the program. Ryan shared how the program has helped connect countless families to education, telehealth, and work, emphasizing that without proper funding millions of households could become disconnected once again.
Since the program’s inception, local leaders have worked to make information accessible in multiple languages. For example, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, worked with Global Cleveland to translate ACP outreach materials into the six most widely spoken languages. During the panel, Ryan discussed the ongoing work the Federal Communications Commission is doing to make applying for the program easier for those that speak languages other than English and Spanish. If Congress does not make additional funding available, the program is expected to expire in early 2024. Ryan shed light on discussions happening in Washington, D.C. surrounding possible strategies for long-term, sustainable funding. He closed by exploring the costs and benefits for potentially continuing with an appropriations model or introducing the program into the Universal Service Fund.
Whatever the solution, without continuing funding for the ACP much of the work on broadband affordability since the passage of the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act will be undone. As a result, disconnected residents will no longer trust the FCC or their community organizations to help them find long-term connectivity solutions.
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