White House announces a program to make high-speed internet cheaper for millions of Americans

Depending on your income status, your internet bill could be cheaper soon.

The Biden White House announced Monday that low-income Americans will be eligible for reduced broadband prices through a new program. This is being done through partnerships with 20 internet service providers around the country. Those who are eligible will see their bills slashed by up to $30/mo, or as much as $75/mo on Tribal lands.

Depending on a variety of factors, it depends on who is eligible. The simplest way to qualify is for your household to be at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, which scales with the size of your household according to a chart on the website. It costs $27,180 for a single-person household, $36,620 for two, and so on.

If someone in your home is part of one of these programs, you can get cheaper internet. Credit: Screenshot: U.S. Government

If someone in your household benefits from one of the federal aid programs, you can be eligible for ACP benefits. If you are already eligible for your local internet service provider's low-income service tier, you can qualify for ACP. The White House believes that 48 million households in America will be eligible for these cost reductions.

As with any means-tested government program that goes through private companies, it will be interesting to see how many people get left out. There is a specific wording that prices could be cut by up to $30 a month. Will a $30 drop be the norm or an outlier?

It's good to see some assistance for people who need high-speed internet but can't afford it. 21 million Americans are estimated to lack broadband access in 2020, which makes it difficult to apply for a job without internet access. It's about time ISPs did something other than screw over their customers, since the recent decree that they have to provide nutrition labels with information like actual speed and hidden costs.