Montana's Data-Driven Affordability Plans

In Montana, over 63,400 Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) remain unserved and nearly 24,000 remain underserved. The Montana Broadband Office’s vision is to close the digital divide in support of Montana’s economic, workforce, health, and educational goals by ensuring reliable, affordable internet access for everyone in the state. Montana aims to increase broadband access and adoption by pairing broadband deployment with digital opportunity efforts. To do this, the state has developed six goals, each with its own objectives, covering broadband deployment, access, adoption, affordability, digital opportunity, and economic growth and job creation. On affordability, Montana planned to leverage the Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—before the program ended—to ensure that cost is not a barrier to accessing broadband for all Montanans, irrespective of their income level. The objective is to ensure that more residents can access internet services, and that the internet is more affordable for them. In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress mandated that networks built with Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program support offer at least one low-cost broadband service option for eligible subscribers. Each state (in consultation with NTIA and subgrantees) will define what ‘‘low-cost broadband service option’’ means for this purpose and the NTIA will determine who the eligible subscribers are and approve state definitions of low-cost broadband service options. Some states—and this week we learned this week that Montana is one of them—have balked at NTIA's suggestion that low-cost broadband service options be priced at or near $30/month which, in combination with the ACP, would make broadband service affordable for any low-income household on a BEAD network. While the Montana Broadband Office (MBO) recognizes the importance of affordable access to broadband, the MBO philosophically disagrees with the NTIA’s position that rate requirements are not rate-setting. At a House Commerce Committee oversight hearing, Misty Ann Giles, the Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Montana Department of Administration, said, "The position of NTIA is ... that this is a voluntary program, so it's not rate setting. However, I would state that is a farce." However, the MBO has worked to find a data-driven solution that meets the NTIA’s requirements, improves the potential for companies to participate in the program, and serves all Montanans.