Louisiana lawmakers push to expand broadband access

Louisiana passed extensive legislation in the past two sessions to help bridge the digital divide, including a plan to auction off valuable communications spectrum for broadband access. HB465 tasks the recently created Office of Broadband and Connectivity with supervising an auction of parts of the 4.9GHz band. The Federal Communications Commission voted in 2020 to allow every state to lease some of this spectrum to help expand broadband development. A state task force recommended to the Louisiana Legislature that 10 percent of the 50 megahertz allocated toward the effort be kept for public safety use. The other 45 MHz should be auctioned off in blocks to businesses and internet service providers, said the task force. The state Legislature also passed SB10, which eased private provider access to infrastructure owned by electric cooperatives. Louisiana has established a dig once policy, which requires public and private workers to coordinate with local governments on laying fiber or conduit when ground is broken on public rights-of-way, making it less costly to implement future broadband projects. Additionally, 13 providers in Louisiana will receive $342 million from the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund to connect unserved areas. The state also established a Broadband for Everyone in Louisiana initiative that set a goal of broadband speeds for all residents as set by the FCC at 25 Mbps/3 Mbps, scalable to up to 100 Mbps/100Mbps by 2029.