INCOMPAS, the Internet and Competitive Networks Association, launched a paper that quantifies the investments tech companies have made in the global network infrastructure of the internet. The research, conducted by Analysys Mason and launched in partnership with CCIA, DOT Europe, the Asia Internet Coalition, and the Korean Internet Association, finds that tech companies have invested $883 billion in the internet’s infrastructure in the past decade, which saves broadband providers about $6.5 billion each year. Despite this significant investment, countries around the world are considering "network usage fees" that would tax these companies. These measures often are designed to discriminate against certain US-based content and application providers and would require them to pay tens of billions to the incumbent, often state-affiliated foreign telecom operators. Ultimately, research suggests that usage fees could disrupt incentives, investment, and competition, resulting in unintended negative consequences for the internet ecosystem. See the full report here.

Lieutenant Gov Suzanne Crouch (R-IN) and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs have awarded $760,727 in third-round funding from the Indiana Connectivity Program to expand broadband access to 197 addresses across 28 Indiana counties. The program aims to help more Hoosier residents and business owners obtain access to high-speed, quality broadband. The Indiana Connectivity Program acts as a tool to connect residents and businesses that lack internet service with internet service providers and assist in the expense of extending broadband to unserved and underserved locations. Of the 197 addresses funded, 188 are households and 9 are businesses. Internet providers carrying out the projects are matching over $1.8 million for a total investment of $2.6 million. The program accepts addresses on a rolling basis. Hoosiers and business owners lacking internet connectivity can communicate their interests by entering their addresses and information into the Next Level Connections portal here. 

Nearly 450,000 residents in the state don't have adequate broadband, according to the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The office has been tracking the data for years and will roll out its own map in the fall of where Tennesseans lack access to high-speed internet of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. This measurement is new for the department, so new that the Federal Communication Commission doesn't have that measurement on their own maps, which they believe will show up in the next iteration of data in late 2022 to early 2023. However, in 2018, former Gov Bill Haslam (R-TN) pushed the legislature to allow electric cooperatives and internet companies to team up to provide service. Of the 22 electric cooperatives in Tennessee, 17 have chosen to participate in the initiative. Now Gov Bill Lee (R-TN) stated there would be $198 million more in grant money for broadband. Middle Tennessee and Duck River Electric were the largest recipients of those funds. The money comes from the American Rescue Plan (ARPA), which totals up to $446 million through the Tennessee Emergency Broadband Fund.