FCC Outreach Grants: Reaching the Non-Enrolled
On March 10, 2023, the FCC Affordable Broadband Outreach Grants Program allocated a total of $66 million in 197 grants to 195 organizations in 50 U.S. States and Territories.. On March 15, the FCC announced an additional $7.5 million in Outreach Grants to 32 organizations in 22 states for two additional outreach programs. Overall, 221 organizations are receiving 229 grants, ranging from $26,760 to $878,128 (average $320,818) under the following four programs:
| FCC Outreach Grant Program | Total |
|---|---|
| National Competitive Outreach Program (NCOP) | $60.00 m |
| Tribal Competitive Outreach Program (TCOP) | $6.02 m |
| Your Home, Your Internet (YHYI) | $5.00 m |
| Navigator Pilot Program (NPP) | $2.45 m |
| Total | $73.47 m |
Out of 52.2 million U.S. households eligible for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), 37.2 million (71%) have yet to enroll in the program. The FCC Outreach Grants aim to enlist community partners nationwide to reach historically underserved and unserved communities.
Non-enrolled households, those eligible households that have yet to enroll in the ACP, constitute the main focus of the Outreach Grants. Nationwide, the $73.47 million total budget amounts to $1.98 per non-enrolled household. Grant amounts vary broadly by state, from $0.20 per non-enrolled household (Iowa) to $20.77 per non-enrolled household (Alaska) — excluding the District of Colombia, an outlier at $84.55, largely because 7 out of 9 grants awarded to DC organizations are intended for ACP outreach beyond the District. Overall, 27 grants were awarded for “multi-state and/or national ACP outreach” to organizations located in 16 states. These 27 multi-state grants account for 20% of the combined NCOP and TCOM $66 million budget.
The two dashboards below provide a closer look at how these grants were distributed across the nation. The first dashboard calculates and maps the grant amount per non-enrolled household in each State. TIP: use the filters on the right to select the grants to include, by type — National (NCOP), Tribal (TCOP), Your Home (YHYI), or Navigator (NPP) — by coverage — multi-state or not– and by state. Hover above the state amounts in the table on the right to bring up a list of grants that state has received.
The second dashboard provides a list of the grants by state, along with a summary of the ACP enrollment situation in that state. TIP: use the filters on the right to select the state featured and which grants to include by type — National (NCOP), Tribal (TCOP), Your Home (YHYI), or Navigator (NPP) — and by coverage — multi-state or not.
Source: ARNIC calculations, based on: USAC ACP Tracker; U.S. Census ACS data; FCC Outreach Grants announcements (3/10 and 3/15).
For an explanation of our eligibility estimation method and how it differs from others, see Galperin (2022), “Estimating participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program”.
This work was made possible thanks to a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts through its Broadband Access Initiative.