Connecticut’s new affordable-internet law is now live. Starting 1 October 2026, internet providers that do business with the state must let residents of eligible low-income households sign up for a plan that costs no more than $40 a month, all taxes, fees and equipment included. The requirement comes from the Net Equality Program, created by Public Act 25-113 and now codified at Section 16-330h of the Connecticut General Statutes. The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) had until 30 September 2026 to set the program up. Here is what it requires, who it covers, and what is still unclear.
What the $40 plan has to include
The statute sets a hard ceiling: the monthly cost of the affordable plan, including every tax, charge, fee and any equipment needed to use it, cannot exceed $40. From 1 October 2026 through 30 September 2027 the plan must deliver at least 100 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up. On 1 October 2027 the upload floor rises to 20 Mbps. The $40 figure is not permanent: beginning 1 June 2027, DEEP must adjust the cap each year to track the Consumer Price Index, with the new cap applying from the following 1 July.
Who qualifies, and which providers are covered
An eligible household needs at least one resident enrolled in SNAP or in another public-assistance program the provider already accepts for its own low-income internet offer, and it has to be inside that provider’s Connecticut service territory. AARP Connecticut, which lobbied for the bill, summarizes eligibility as Medicaid or SNAP enrollment.
The provider side is narrower than many headlines suggested. The mandate applies to a “qualified” provider, defined as one doing business in Connecticut and with a state agency, including through a procurement contract. A provider with no state contracts is not bound by it. Covered providers must also make a commercially reasonable effort to publicize the plan, post the enrollment procedure prominently on their website, and report sign-up and subscriber counts to DEEP every year starting 1 February 2027.
When the bill passed in 2025, Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff of Norwalk told AARP, “Everybody should have access to the internet.” Broadband Breakfast reported in March 2026 that Pew’s broadband access initiative praised the law as a state-level answer to the federal Affordable Connectivity Program, whose funding ran out in 2024.
What this means if you live in Connecticut
If your household receives SNAP or Medicaid, you can now ask your provider for the $40 plan, and a covered provider is required to accept the request. Check the provider’s website first: the law requires enrollment steps to be posted there. As of 10 October 2026, Homelinkd could not find a public DEEP program page or an official list of participating providers, and Connecticut news outlets had not yet reported on the launch, so expect the rollout to be uneven in its first weeks. If your provider says it is not covered, that may be accurate under the state-contract definition above. Existing low-income plans from the major Connecticut providers are a reasonable fallback in the meantime; our pages for Xfinity, Optimum, Frontier and Spectrum cover what each currently offers. Note that the 5 Mbps upload floor in year one is modest, so a $40 plan may be slower upstream than a provider’s standard tiers.
Sources
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 16-330h, Net Equality Program (Public Act 25-113), 2026 Supplement — Connecticut General Assembly, effective 01-Jul-2025; provider obligations begin 01-Oct-2026
- Connecticut Law to Require Affordable Broadband for Eligible Households — Broadband Breakfast, 12-Mar-2026
- Program to Help Lower-Income Connecticut Residents Afford Internet — AARP Connecticut, 01-Nov-2025