Biden-Harris Administration Awards More Than $7.4 Million to Florida in ‘Internet for All’ Planning Grants

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Florida received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative. Florida is receiving $7,407,200.56 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Biden, to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state. For the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Florida will receive $4,999,976.99 to fund various activities including:

• Identification of unserved and underserved locations;
• Creation of a five-year action plan;
• Capacity-building and employee training of the Florida's broadband office;
• Asset mapping across Florida to catalog high-speed Internet service adoption, affordability, equity, access and deployment;
• Surveys of unserved, underserved and underrepresented communities to better understand barriers to high-speed Internet service adoption;
• Conducting research from the established Local Technology Planning Teams into a comprehensive list.

For Digital Equity Act planning efforts, Florida will receive $2,407,223.57 to fund various activities including:

• Creation of a digital equity plan for Florida;
• Outreach to underrepresented communities;
• Conducting a needs assessment.