July 7, 2025—ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association today announced it is partnering with Guardian Group on Operation IFAST (ISPs Fight Against Sex Trafficking), a three-step program designed to raise awareness of sex trafficking, support law enforcement and raise money to combat these crimes.
This initiative originated with CLtel, an ACA Connects Member from Clear Lake, Iowa, and Guardian Group, a non-profit whose mission is to prevent and disrupt the sex trafficking of women and children in the United States. Research shows, 75 percent of underage victims report being sold online and 150,000 new escort ads are posted online every day in America. Hidden among these are ads for children. Guardian Group created Operation IFAST to help service providers be better equipped to identify these heinous crimes and help bring them to an end.
ACA Connects is joining this partnership to encourage its Member companies and all broadband providers to participate in Operation IFAST. NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association also offers information to providers about Operation IFAST, in coordination with Guardian Group.
ISPs can get involved by:
- Training their staff to recognize signs of trafficking
- Connecting local law enforcement with Guardian Group’s free counter-trafficking support
- Raising awareness and funds to support Guardian Group’s mission
“ACA Connects is proud to partner with Guardian Group to encourage providers to leverage their unique position to advocate for victims and help make their communities safer,” said ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer. “Through our day-to-day role in keeping Americans’ homes and businesses connected, we can provide valuable, lifesaving identification of sex trafficking operations and play a role in combatting this unthinkable evil. I encourage all our Members to visit ACAConnects.org/IFAST to access key resources and become certified with Guardian Group.”
“I am grateful that ACA Connects is joining Operation IFAST,” said NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield. “Seventy-five percent of underage trafficking victims in the United States are sold online, which makes it critical that our industry joins together to fight back. The more ISPs that join our efforts, the greater impact we can have.”
Chris Lovell, CLtel’s Chief Growth Officer, said, “The internet has the power to transform lives for good—but tragically, it’s also being used to do harm. As broadband service providers, we have a unique opportunity—and a responsibility—to protect the communities we serve. Operation IFAST isn’t about monitoring customers or policing the web. It’s about equipping field teams to recognize red flags in the communities they already serve and providing tools to support those on the front lines.
He added, “Ours is an industry full of good people who know what is right and are willing to act. People who know, ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ – JFK. Sadly, traffickers only need WiFi and a vulnerable child to do devastating damage. Through Operation IFAST, ISPs everywhere can take meaningful action in the fight against human trafficking—because what we build for good should never be used for evil.”
ACA Connects invites Members to visit ACAConnects.org/IFAST to learn more and access more resources to make a difference in the fight against sex trafficking.
ACA Connects—America’s Communications Association is a trade organization representing approximately 500 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, video, and phone services covering 29.5 million households. ACA Connects Members operate in every state, providing advanced communications to connect homes, companies, main street, schools, hospitals and more. America’s economic prosperity in smaller communities and rural areas depends on the growth and success of ACA Connects Members, who believe a connected nation is a prosperous nation.