Three Years of High-Speed Internet Infrastructure Investment

Three years ago, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included $65 billion to connect everyone in America to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service while providing connected devices and digital skills training to those who need it. As of today, NTIA has approved 55 of 56 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program Initial Proposals  and expects to approve the State of Texas in the coming days. Approval enabled states to request access to their BEAD allocations, and request they have: the Federal government has obligated more than $35 billion of the $42.45 billion available in the program. And states and territories are on the move. Nearly all states have begun their challenge process to determine the list of locations eligible for BEAD-funded projects and nine have begun the selection of Internet Service Providers that will build the networks to connect the unconnected. We anticipate that the first state to complete subgrantee selection will announce its results imminently, with many more to follow. All of the approved Initial Proposals contain common sense measures rooted in the statute and set out in the BEAD funding notice. This includes provisions that protect these taxpayer-funded networks against weather-related disasters like hurricanes and wildfires and that ensure the availability of affordable plans for seniors, Veterans, and other qualifying low-income households. It continues to be vital that these historic Federal investments be both available and beneficial to everyone in America and that they stand the test of time.