ConnectLA Releases BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2

ConnectLA published the second volume of Louisiana’s draft Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, and is asking for feedback from the public. Louisiana received more than $1.35 billion from the BEAD program for the construction of broadband infrastructure and the development of programs to eliminate the digital divide. Volume 1 focused on answering questions three, five, six and seven of the Initial Proposal, and Volume 2 will respond to the remaining 15 questions. The public comment period will close on Sept. 25, 2023, and the feedback form can be found here. The proposal will be updated based on new data and public suggestions. Given the state's unique challenges with geography and workforce, a few topics were important in Vol. 2:

• Infrastructure needs to be resilient to weather damage. Burying fiber (especially in coastal areas) and building redundant systems will ensure fewer outages and improve emergency preparedness and response.
• This amount of infrastructure needs a robust workforce to build and maintain it. The Louisiana Community and Technical College System will offer broadband certifications for telecommunications-related jobs and play a major role in developing the state's broadband workforce.
• Once all Louisianians have internet access, it is crucial that we invest in the "future of work activities." New jobs in areas such as cybersecurity, computer programming, telehealth, and artificial intelligence will be open to people for the first time. This is a large step toward eliminating Louisiana's "brain drain."