As an Ashland City resident, I've benefited from a broadband program that could end soon
I’ve lived in Ashland City all my life, and I want to see Ashland City, and rural places across the country, be places where folks want to live.
But it’s 2024 and we still don’t have good internet and cell service across rural parts of Tennessee. You have to be online these days. Living without the internet is living in the past. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has helped bring better, affordable service to small towns like ours, but Congress needs to act to save it.
I signed up for the ACP after I heard about it from a friend. The ACP gives you a $30 discount on your internet or cell phone plan. Saving $30 is a meaningful amount of money - that’s a full tank of gas or groceries for a week. I hurt my back and knees after working for years at the Dollar Store and had to go on disability. I want to work, but my body just quit on me. I don’t get much money from disability, and the increase in prices means what money I have isn’t going as far. I manage my money well, and I make do when I need. The ACP helps me afford to stay connected to doctors and family.
More: Internet access is not a luxury anymore; Congress must act keep Tennesseans connected
ACP is a win-win for companies and consumers
Not only does the ACP provide a $30 discount on a phone or internet plan, it also brings better internet with more options to rural places. Everyone who lives in a small town like Ashland City knows you usually only get one or two options for a cell provider or internet service.
The plans aren’t great and they are expensive. It just feels like they’re trying to take as much money from you without giving anything in return.The ACP requires companies to offer decent plans. Providers have to offer you internet speeds that are actually fast enough to download something or watch a show. By participating in the ACP, internet companies get investments to build more services in rural parts of the country. It’s rare the government comes up with a win-win situation, but that’s what the ACP is. It’s a win for us to save money and it's a win to get more competition and service into rural areas.
We’ve all seen how small towns are struggling right now. Businesses closed, people left, and folks aren’t coming back. I firmly believe that if you had fast internet in rural areas, you’d see families want to move out here to raise their kids, and small businesses start up because it’s affordable. The internet helps everybody, but nobody stands to benefit more from the ACP than folks in rural areas do.
The ACP is helping more than 423,000 Tennesseans not just get a discount on their bill but get better service. Keeping the program running gives Ashland City the opportunity to make life better for all of us. The ACP is set to expire in April without Congress. Notices about the program shutting down are already in the mail.
Senators, would you like to pay my broadband bill?
Politicians can’t ask us to keep tightening our belts; there’s nothing left. I’m sick of elected officials who pretend to care about high prices and a tough economy, but then don’t do anything to help. If this program goes away, it’s going to hurt a lot of people. We need Congress to extend this program so that people can keep saving money and so that the internet gets to everyone. If we lose the ACP, we lose all the progress we’ve made to bring affordable service here.
I want to see Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Bill Hagerty sign onto the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act, a bipartisan bill that would keep the ACP funded. Even if you don’t use the ACP yourself, you get faster plans and better service because of the ACP.
And if our senators won’t extend the ACP, then I should send them my internet bill each month and let them pay it. It’s the least they can do if they really care about tough times for us in Ashland City.
Chester Huffines was born and raised in Ashland County, Tennessee and is a member of WorkMoney, a nonprofit organization that is focused on helping connecting Americans to resources that help to lower costs.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Internet access: Act to keep broadband affordable to rural Tennessee
