Universal Broadband

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will fail if Congress doesn’t renew the Affordable Connectivity Program that states are relying on to connect low-income Americans. National Telecommunications and Information Agency Administrator Alan Davidson explained to Congress that the BEAD Program will be 

The Utah Broadband Center (UBC), part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, asks for public feedback on Utah’s draft of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal Volume 2. Comments can be submitted online until Dec. 15, 2023. The second volume of the BEAD Initial Proposal outlines Utah’s strategies for allocating BEAD grant funds to broadband deployment projects across the state.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has been helping to close the digital divide in rural America by building, improving, and acquiring the facilities and equipment needed to deliver high-speed internet through the ReConnect Program. High-speed internet connects rural communities to jobs, telemedicine and distance learning, farmers with new technologies and the real-time information they need to stay competitive, and helps small businesses develop their markets.

The Federal Communications Commission has adopted final rules to prevent digital discrimination of access to broadband services based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, or national origin. The new rules establish a framework to facilitate equal access to broadband internet services by preventing digital discrimination of access.

Vice President Kamala Harris said, "One provision of our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that President Biden signed exactly two years ago directed the Federal Communications Commission to create first-of-its-kind rules to prevent digital discrimination. Today, the FCC answered our call by voting to adopt these necessary rules, taking a critical step to prohibit digital discrimination in high-speed Internet access based on income, race, ethnicity, religion, and national origin.

Center for Rural Development President and CEO Lonnie Lawson announced a $30.7 million project that will expand broadband access to approximately 33,000 households across 16 counties and 196 communities in Southern and Eastern Kentucky. The broadband expansion project will include: 

As Members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we write urging you to include $6 billion needed to replenish the highly popular and effective Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in any government funding package, as requested by President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2024 emergency supplemental funding proposal. Established in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the ACP is a true bipartisan public policy success story.

I met my husband Dan ten years ago, approximately 18 months after he got back from Afghanistan, and about five weeks after he left active duty. It was, in his words, as he was “shakily beginning the transition into civilian life.” That’s when I began learning about the role the internet plays in the lives of Veterans. Over the last decade, I’ve watched Dan navigate the hard journey of building a new identity as a civilian and Veteran. For Dan, the internet was arguably the most valuable and essential tool he had in redefining “esprit de corps” when he left active duty.

Two years after President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and other agencies have distributed billions of dollars to communities to bridge the digital divide and make participation in the digital economy a reality for everyone. At NTIA, we completed funding rounds for multiple programs in the last year and are moving to the implementation phase, all the while preparing states and territories to administer their state grant programs.

We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented funding to expand high-speed internet across the country. This is life-changing for the estimated 42 million Americans lacking access to a reliable internet connection, including as many as 728,000 Oklahomans. Ensuring everyone has access to affordable internet means making our local economies more resilient and increasing our regional competitiveness. Oklahoma is investing about $1.3 billion for broadband infrastructure and accessibility through state and federal funding.