Connect Alabama Gets Help From Capital Projects Fund

As of 2021, roughly 13 percent of Alabama’s 1.65 million addresses were unserved by broadband of at least 25 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 3 Mbps upload (25/3), while about 19 percent of addresses were unserved by 100/20 service—the threshold recommended as the state’s five-year target to align with new federal funding opportunities. Higher-speed services like 100/100 and symmetrical 1 Gbps were available only to about 25 percent of addresses. Census blocks across the state ranged from completely served, some with symmetrical gigabit, to completely unserved with broadband speeds of 25/3 or under. An engineering estimate of the effort needed to bridge Alabama’s rural infrastructure gap found that deploying 100/100 service to all addresses currently unserved by 100/20 would cost between $4 billion and $6 billion. Even where broadband infrastructure and services were available, they aren't attainable by all members of the community. A complex combination of factors—including affordability, device access, digital skills, and language barriers—inhibit use of the broadband internet, to the detriment of both economic and community development. Approximately 20 percent of Alabama households did not subscribe to broadband services in 2021. The most commonly cited reason for not subscribing was cost, and awareness of federal subsidy programs was relatively low (though higher than in many neighboring states). On January 26, the U.S. Treasury approved Alabama's plan to invest $191.9 million of Capital Projects Fund support in broadband infrastructure projects that will provide high-quality internet to locations that lack access to adequate service. The state estimates that the support will help connect 55,000 locations—approximately nine percent of the locations still lacking high-speed internet access in Alabama. Alabama policymakers have made universal broadband a priority for many years, but with mixed results.