“We Take ‘Internet for All’ Seriously”: Alaska’s Broadband Director on Getting to 100%

A few years ago, an assessment of Alaska’s broadband needs suggested an investment of nearly $2 billion would be needed to bring high-speed connections to everyone in the nation’s largest state. The National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) awarded Alaska just over $1 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds. But Thomas Lochner, Director of Alaska’s Broadband Office, said he’s grateful to NTIA nevertheless. Before the BEAD funding announcements, “people were saying Alaska was going to get $400 to $500 million,” said Lochner. “NTIA looked at our letters, where we argued that Alaska’s needs are different. And while we didn’t get the full amount, what everybody was predicting Alaska would get was about half of what we got.”