Broadband for All: Harnessing ARPA for Effective Broadband Expansion

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) has the potential to address several of the primary issues historically associated with broadband access in America, including funding concentration among few internet service providers (ISPs), unreliable data regarding broadband coverage, and device ownership disparities on the basis of income and age. This project studied a set of outstanding broadband projects using ARPA funding to understand how localities are addressing the critical issues of accessibility, affordability, and adoption to infuse equity into their broadband expansion efforts. Our major finding is that, across projects, harnessing the power of innovative partnerships bolsters local capacity, providing the tools necessary to overcome barriers in the areas of funding, determination of need, and implementation to best advance project goals. The strength of this project is our identification of a diverse set of cases, each with varying sizes, project types, approaches, funding sources, outcomes, and more. Each of these cases addressed different aspects of the digital divide as understood by the “Three ‘A’ Framework” of accessibility, affordability, and adoption. Identifying shared themes across these cases therefore provides great insight into those areas, such as formation of innovative partnerships, which all broadband projects may focus on for success.