Congratulations to all the states, NTIA, and FCC on the allocation of broadband funds

I get asked a lot what I think of the Federal Communication Commission's Broadband Map and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's (NTIA) allocation of the $42.5 billion in broadband funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Here’s what I think: this has been a fair process and a fair outcome. As far as I’m aware, no state has cause to be very upset. I highly doubt we’ll see lawsuits and angry senators yelling at Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications and Information Administration officials. After a lot of work (with a lot more to do) the FCC and NTIA deserve a lot of credit for getting us to this point. In particular, I want to highlight Michigan. The day after the “new map” was published, I highlighted that things looked unfair in Michigan. Their allocation dropped $416 million from my previous estimates, due largely to two fixed wireless providers significantly increasing their coverage area. I don’t know exact details of what transpired. I suspect many phone calls were made. Many conversations were had. And their allocation is up $141 million to $1.56 billion. That’s more equitable. I’ve updated my spreadsheet with the official allocation, and shortly I’ll update it with distribution of Unserved and Underserved locations by state and county, according to the update of the FCC map posted this morning, with data as of June 15, 2023.