The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has said 2024 will be “the year of execution” for Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD). But the agency still has a ways to go in approving initial proposals for each state and territory. Louisiana was the first to get its plan approved in December. Since then, Kansas, Nevada and West Virginia have been the only states to get the greenlight to start their grant programs. So, what’s the hold up? Joanne Hovis, president of CTC Technology & Energy, thinks we’re about to see a wave of approved initial proposals in the next few weeks. She noted every state and territory was required to submit volume two of their initial proposals by December 27—and they did. Once all the proposals came in, NTIA began what the agency calls “curing,” which is “their review and their requests for changes where they believe it’s necessary for compliance with the law.” Right now, most states are undertaking the map challenge process, where they give residents an opportunity to correct inaccuracies in the state’s broadband map.

Rep Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced legislation to streamline the permitting process for broadband infrastructure projects. The Facilitating Optimal and Rapid Expansion and Siting of Telecommunications (FOREST) Act will cut down bureaucratic red tape to improve broadband access in rural America. The lengthy permitting process on federal lands has prevented the federal government from improving broadband access, even though billions of dollars are available to improve broadband deployment. The FOREST Act expedites broadband projects in places where the government has already conducted the appropriate environmental and historical preservation reviews. Specifically, the FOREST Act:

• Grants exemptions from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historical Preservation Act (NHPA) for a communications facility or communications use authorization on National Forest System lands if it is an upgrade or addition to existing infrastructure, or if the United States Forest Service has already conducted the appropriate environmental and historical preservation reviews.
• Allows USFS to waive the consultation requirements under NEPA and NHPA for a communications use authorization on previously analyzed areas of National Forest System lands.
• Streamlines the NEPA permitting process by allowing broadband infrastructure to be built on land that has already gone through the appropriate reviews as it pertains to the National Forest System.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census blocks are now eligible for other funding programs. This comes after Charter Communications and Altice informed the FCC of their decisions to withdraw from the RDOF support program. Both companies will face penalties for withdrawing from the program. 

Hiawatha Broadband Communications (HBC) announced Multi-Gig Flight Fiber Internet is now available in Farmington (MN). Phase One construction of HBC’s reliable Flight Fiber Fiber-To-The-Premise (FTTP) network in Farmington is now complete and providing high-speed Internet, TV, and Phone services to more than 1,500 homes and businesses in the city. HBC has committed $9 million to date to the project to reach 5,000 more Farmington residents and businesses by the end of the year. Farmington’s city government offices are now connected to HBC’s multi-Gigabit network and WiFi connectivity will soon become available in the city’s parks and recreation areas. Farmington mayor Joshua Hoyt said the city partnered with HBC to build out his community from border to border with fiber. Part of the Farmington project also includes bringing Internet access to 20 of the city’s 29 parks.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson will travel to OFS’s headquarters in Norcross (GA) with Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to celebrate the announcement of new jobs and increased domestic production of optical fiber and fiber optic cable thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. As a result of the Build America, Buy America Act and the Internet for All programs, OFS has announced it will create 100 jobs, including union jobs, and expand its US production of fiber for use in connecting locations across the US to reliable high-speed Internet service. In February 2024, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced the majority of fiber broadband equipment for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program—including optical fiber, fiber optic cable, key electronics, and enclosures—will be made in the United States. 

The internet’s original promise was to help people and businesses connect, innovate and share information. Congress passed the Communications Decency Act in 1996 to realize those goals. It was an overwhelming success. Section 230 of the act helped shepherd the internet from the “you’ve got mail” era into today’s global nexus of communication and commerce. Unfortunately, Section 230 is now poisoning the healthy online ecosystem it once fostered. Big Tech companies are exploiting the law to shield them from any responsibility or accountability as their platforms inflict immense harm on Americans, especially children. Congress’s failure to revisit this law is irresponsible and untenable. That is why we’re taking bipartisan action. We must act because Big Tech is profiting from children, developing algorithms that push harmful content on to our kids’ feeds and refusing to strengthen their platforms’ protections against predators, drug dealers, sex traffickers, extortioners and cyberbullies. Children are paying the price, developing addictive and dangerous habits, often at the expense of their mental health. Big Tech has failed to uphold American democratic values and be fair stewards of the speech they host. Today, we are unveiling today bipartisan draft legislation to sunset Section 230. Our measure aims to restore the internet’s intended purpose—to be a force for free expression, prosperity and innovation. It would require Big Tech and others to work with Congress over 18 months to evaluate and enact a new legal framework that will allow for free speech and innovation while also encouraging these companies to be good stewards of their platforms. Our bill gives Big Tech a choice: Work with Congress to ensure the internet is a safe, healthy place for good, or lose Section 230 protections entirely.