CLARK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM
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Petitioner: |
Bob Leek, Chief Information Officer |
Recommendation:
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Ratify and approve the submission of the grant application to the Federal Communications Commission Affordable Connectivity Program for $500,000 to launch a comprehensive media and outreach to increase awareness of and enrollment in the Affordable Connectivity Program.
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FISCAL IMPACT:
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Fund #: |
2031.000 |
Fund Name: |
ACP Grant |
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Fund Center: |
1100761000 |
Funded PGM/Grant: |
TBD |
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Amount: |
$500,000 |
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Description: |
FY2023 Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program |
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Additional Comments: |
N/A |
BACKGROUND:
Clark County Information Technology requests that the Board of County Commissioners ratify and approve the submission of the grant application to the Federal Communications Commission Affordable Connectivity Outreach Program and authorize the Broadband Program Director or his designee to accept any grant funds awarded.
The ACP is the largest broadband subsidy in U.S. history, enacted by Congress via the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and administered by the FCC. The ACP extends and modifies the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program, which Congress previously established to provide financial support for low-income households, and it may serve to complement the Lifeline program for eligible households.
The ACP provides eligible households with up to $30/month discount for internet service (up to $75/month discount for households on qualifying Tribal lands), and a one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider. President Biden’s administration has worked with participating Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer high-speed plans for $30 per month or less, essentially guaranteeing a free internet service for households eligible for ACP. Despite the wide-ranging eligibility for the program, the ACP is still undersubscribed nationwide.
Across the Country, over 15 million Americans are enrolled in the ACP, but an additional 30+ million individuals are eligible to participate in the program.
Like the rest of the country, Clark County’s residents are under-subscribed by a large margin. The County’s understanding of the ACP and its benefit to low-income households is a driving factor in applying for this grant funding to support activities to increase awareness and enrollment throughout the County. Amongst cities, Las Vegas ranks 11th in enrollment by percentage of eligible households in the U.S., behind cities like Detroit and Baltimore. The City of Las Vegas has a 37% adoption rate and 39,206 eligible unconnected households.
Additionally, the city of Mesquite in Clark County has a 7% adoption rate and 1,589 eligible unconnected households. The intended impact is to increase ACP participation rates throughout all the cities in Clark County, targeting rural and unconnected areas like Boulder City, Southeast Clark County, Mesquite, and Northeast Clark County. Knowing that ACP is a temporary program, and that its continued congressional support is likely dependent on the success of the program in its first iteration, Clark County is committed to increasing ACP enrollment and connecting more of its residents to the internet through this program.
Clark County proposes to utilize a comprehensive media and outreach campaign targeting low-income households, particularly in areas of the County with low enrollment rates, including urban and rural areas, and Tribal communities living on and around Tribal lands. Outreach strategies will leverage Clark County’s own television station for PSAs; paid media via bilingual (English/Spanish) radio announcements, billboards, and wraparound signage with QR codes on local buses; digital campaigns that will include leveraging the County’s social media channels and mass text messaging campaigns, and outreach using multilingual ACP toolkit materials from the FCC that will be disseminated via county offices through direct mail and in-person interactions, as well as health clinics, nonprofits, community-based and faith-based organizations, the Clark County Library District and Clark County School District.
Through its outreach strategies, Clark County intends to increase awareness of and enrollment in ACP, especially among communities with the highest rates of low-income, unconnected households. Clark County will direct interested residents requiring enrollment assistance to the toll-free number of the ACP Support Center, to the FCC’s Companies Near Me search tool to look up participating providers that can assist with enrollment, as well as to entities that can provide enrollment assistance, access to subsidized devices and digital skills training, such as Human-I-T and PCs for People.
This grant submission requests funding to launch a comprehensive media and outreach campaign targeting low-income households in areas of the County with low enrollment rates.