Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Program

Spectrum announced a $4.5 million construction project to bring its advanced fiber-optic network to nearly 1,500 homes and small businesses in the Town of Erin (WI). The project is being funded by a $4.2 million investment from Spectrum and a $300,000 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant received through the Town of Erin.

Some 8,200 homes, businesses and schools in unserved and underserved parts of Lumpkin County (GA) will, for the first time, be eligible for high-speed fiber internet. The $20.4 million project, to provide fiber broadband to Dahlonega and throughout the county, is expected to be completed in 2024. It is a result of a public–private partnership between the county and Kinetic. The county will use about $6.9 million in state grant money from the federal government.

Verizon won broadband funding from two Pennsylvania counties recently. Verizon Vice President of Business Operations for Wireline Networks Doug Sullivan offered details about the wins, which are for areas where the company has begun deploying its Fios fiber broadband service. The Pennsylvania awards were for Washington and Westmoreland counties.

On May 8, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth released its second annual report

The final guidelines for the $20 million Missouri Cell Tower Grant Program have been released by the state’s Department of Economic Development (DED). The state will begin accepting applications in the funding program on Friday, May 26, 2023, and eligible entities have until July 25, 2023, to submit their applications. The program is being funded through the US Department of the Treasury Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF), which is part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The US Treasury Department has released the final version of important compliance guidance applicable to broadband projects funded through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) or Capital Project Fund (CPF) awards.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new dashboard highlighting federal investments in high-speed Internet programs. NTIA developed the dashboard to accompany the Federal Broadband Funding Report.

As federal and local government agencies award funding to cover some of the costs of deploying broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas, one company that has used that funding from a variety of sources to fuel its deployment efforts is Surf Internet. The company—which serves parts of Illinois, Indiana and Michigan—has been around since 2001 and initially focused on using fixed wireless broadband to serve rural areas.

Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS) will award $15.7 million to seven service providers that will bring high-speed broadband service to underserved, economically distressed, and low-population areas of the state. This is the first of three rounds of awards from the Kansas Capital Project Funds (CPF) Broadband Grant Program. This phase of funding will connect more than 1,900 homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities, and other public institutions to fast, reliable internet in the next 24 months. This funding aims to solve the “last mile” of broadband needed in critical areas.

Nevada is working to distribute its biggest-ever investment in broadband infrastructure in conjunction with local communities, despite state laws restricting municipalities and counties from providing telecommunications services. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is administering the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, wants municipal broadband providers to have access to these funds. But Nevada is one of 17 states with laws limiting the expansion of municipal broadband networks.