On November 15, 2021, U.S. Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which created the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) program. BEAD’s $42.45 billion budget makes it the largest federal broadband deployment program to date. The legislation established an ambitious goal of deploying universal access to broadband service at speeds (bandwidths) of at least 100 Mbps download, 20 Mbps upload (100/20), with less than 100 milliseconds of latency—or in catchphrase form, “internet for all.” Almost three years later, while no broadband infrastructure has yet been built, much in terms of thoughtful planning has been accomplished. The deliberate rollout has been a function of:

• the statutory mandate to execute the program through state broadband offices, but under the supervision of a federal agency, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which necessitates a lot of coordination, and
• the goal of internet for all, which requires plans for statewide coverage before the full BEAD budget can begin to be spent.

In a nation where some states didn’t have broadband offices until a year or so ago, North Carolina and the state’s director of broadband infrastructure, Angela “Angie” Bailey, are relative broadband veterans. The state has been involved in broadband for 20 years and Bailey has been the broadband director since 2021—a heritage that should benefit the state as the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding program unfolds. Beginning in 2018, North Carolina allocated $15 million per year for broadband, Bailey explained. In 2021, she said, the state allocated $1 billion of federal funding from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to broadband. “In North Carolina, with our ARPA and BEAD allocation, we anticipate having enough funding to reach all unserved and underserved locations, mostly with fiber,” Bailey said.

More than a million residents in the southeastern U.S. started the week without fixed broadband and plenty more without cell phone service after Hurricane Helene brought never-before-seen levels of flooding to the valleys of Appalachia. Some operators on the extent of the damage and anticipated timelines for recovery:

• Verizon: Verizon said its engineers continue to make progress in network restoration with Florida, Upstate South Carolina and areas of East Georgia seeing a return to service, but a substantial amount of work remains in the hardest hit areas, like Asheville, North Carolina.
• Brightspeed: Brightspeed, whose footprint includes many states in the South and along the Atlantic seaboard, said that downed trees, flooded communities, washed-out roadways and bridges significantly impacted its network as well as local power companies. However, a company spokesperson said, “Nearly all of our Brightspeed Fiber customers who experienced service interruptions due to Helene are back online."
• AT&T: An AT&T spokesperson said, “The unprecedented destruction and flooding have mobilized our Emergency Operations Center to provide round-the-clock support to all AT&T teams, ensuring they have the resources they need to restore vital connectivity to the affected areas.” Since AT&T is also the operator of the nation’s FirstNet network, the company said its teams are also in continuous coordination with federal, state and local authorities.