Louisiana's Plan for Affordable Broadband

The overarching goal of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, established by Congress in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is to deploy broadband networks that reach every American and provide access to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet. Congress decided to allocate BEAD funds to states and territories since they are best situated to determine the needs of their communities, but it did not change any existing federal authority to oversee broadband or pricing. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) was given administrative oversight and programmatic support responsibilities to ensure the funds would be spent consistent with Congressional intent, including the review and approval of proposals after significant consultation between the state or territory and NTIA. These are critical procedures for NTIA to follow in determining whether low-cost plans are in fact affordable for the areas and markets where they are proposed. What is affordable in one community may not be considered affordable in another, so the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gives NTIA the responsibility of reviewing and approving different approaches on a state-by-state basis. In this and a forthcoming series of articles, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is looking at states' plans to ensure affordable services are available on BEAD-supported networks. We begin with Louisiana. The state received a $1.355 billion allocation from the BEAD Program, the eighth-largest in the nation and the 10th-largest per capita.