‘BEAD without equity is just BAD,’ NTIA official says

Broadband expansion is the goal of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program, but the initiative won’t be successful without a sufficient focus on digital equity and community engagement, said NTIA officials. While the NTIA focused 2022 on kicking off the process with funding notices and building up internal capacity, this year is going to be about every state doing the work in their communities to get through all of the program’s requirements and put their plans on paper. The Biden administration has said it wants every American to have access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet. Counties have a major role to play in ensuring that not only can their constituents access broadband, but they also have the means to adopt it too, said Kevin Gallagher, a senior adviser to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose department includes the NTIA. Local governments and counties are ideally placed to reach underserved communities because “you’re on the ground, you know exactly where there is service and where there isn’t, and you talk to the residents who are struggling to get connectivity,” said Gallagher. States are required to consult with county and local governments during the BEAD grant planning stage, but Gallagher urged county representatives to reach out to their state broadband office and the NTIA federal program officer for their states.