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Yuriana Sotelo and her sister Jacqueline

Students benefit from good internet at a center in Pajaro Valley

Cruzio’s goal is to get reliable, high-speed internet to everyone in our community, regardless of geography or income — but we’re very aware of two main barriers to internet access.

  • The first is infrastructure. If you’re not near a strong existing network, chances are you won’t be able to get good internet at a reasonable price.
  • The second barrier is affordability. Internet prices can be high, especially when there’s only one ISP in your area.
To address infrastructure, the Biden administration included broadband grants in their Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the State of California has contributed, too.

 

But it needs to be affordable

To ease the price barrier, the same bill established the Affordable Connectivity Program, or ACP, in 2021. Eligible people received $30/month to help them pay for internet.

 

The ACP allowed Cruzio and other ISPs to serve more people. But this year, the ACP funds ran out and a dysfunctional Congress failed to renew it.

 

Congress’s failure to renew the ACP program meant that suddenly, thousands of local households lost federal help and, in many cases, cannot afford internet in their homes.

We’re trying to cover the sudden difference

Losing internet access is a serious issue! So Cruzio has gone back to the Equal Access program we started before the feds stepped in. We pull together local philanthropy, schools, and local governments to help us get good connections to people’s homes.

If you were affected by the loss of ACP, we already contacted you with lower-than-standard prices. We’ll sustain those as long as we can. In the long run, a competitive market which doesn’t need big infrastructure improvements will work better than subsidies keep prices low. But until that situation exists, we’ll be looking for any help we can find.

As always, here’s the link to add a small payment each month to your Cruzio bill! We send 100% of that money to Equal Access where it’s put to good use.