From [HERE] During the COVID crisis, the FCC launched the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB program), which gives lower income Americans a $50 ($75 for those in tribal lands) discount off of their broadband bill. Under the program, the government gave money to ISPs, which then doled out discounts to users if they qualified. 

But (and I’m sure this will be a surprise to readers), reports are that big ISPs erected cumbersome barriers to actually getting the service, or worse, actively exploited the sign up process to force struggling low-income applicants on to more expensive plans once the initial contract ended. Very on brand.

The EBB brand was rebranded the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) as part of the Infrastructure Bill (the payout to the general public was dropped to $30 a month). And, once again, not at all surprisingly, the FCC has discovered that “dozens” of U.S. broadband providers were ripping the program off to the tune of millions of dollars across Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.

In several instances, the FCC Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that these ISPs repeatedly used a single four year old applicant on Medicaid to fraudulently enroll thousands of times in the program, helping them nab millions in taxpayer bucks. From Nicole Ferraro at Light Reading:

The most “egregious” example occurred in Oklahoma, it says, where “more than one thousand Oklahoma households were enrolled based on the eligibility of a single BQP [Benefit Qualifying Person], a 4-year old child who receives Medicaid benefits.” As a result, three providers “claimed more than $365,000 in program reimbursements in connection with the 1000+ enrollments based on the 4-year old BQP.”

The full report doesn’t specifically mention which ISPs engaged in this behavior. [MORE]