The United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry teamed up with our civil rights allies in 2021 and successfully persuaded Congress to adopt a new program that helps low-income households pay for high-speed internet. Now that Congress has acted, our biggest challenge is publicizing the program. Families and individuals need to hear from trusted members of their own communities to learn more — people like you! Learn more about the new Affordable Connectivity Program and how you can help. UCC Media Justice is encouraging UCC churches, conferences, associations and individual members — and our friends throughout the faith and humanitarian communities — to help spread the word. Download a copy of the UCC Love Your Neighbors: Get Them Internet toolkit.

[This article originally appeared on Medium. It is reprinted here with permission of the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry.]

Millions of dollars are going toward expanding high-speed internet access in Louisiana, driving demand for a workforce without a clear path to entry. But a local solution is in the works. Bridging the digital divide has become a priority for Louisiana since the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role that high-speed internet plays in the state’s education and economic systems. Using federal funds, the state launched a $180 million program in 2021 to provide underserved areas with high-speed internet. In March 2022, Acadiana (LA) welcomed Vice President Kamala Harris to Ville Platte to announce a $30 million federal grant to build fiber internet across 11 rural towns in the area. Although major federal investments are aiming to bridge that gap, the funds can only go so far without an increase in the number of workers capable of building and installing high-speed internet infrastructure. The deluge of funding, along with private expansion efforts, is driving a major spike in demand for those services and for workers.

I’ve been asked three or four times in the last few weeks why anybody would invest in building rural broadband networks with the goal of getting rich. I’ve been hearing the same rumors as everybody else that there are private equity investors ready to jump into the rural grant arena. I have no specific knowledge that this is going to occur, but I’ve run across several internet service providers (ISPs) recently who claim to have access to nearly unlimited equity funding. It’s easy to understand why somebody who doesn’t understand the rural industry might think this is a great time to invest. Just having a $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program on the horizon is bound to attract investors who think that free money ought to mean big returns. But I’m afraid that private equity investors are going to find a different business environment in rural broadband markets than what they are expecting. I suspect that part of the lure for new investors to the industry is the high multiples being paid recently for broadband networks. Some of the multiples I’ve seen in the last few years are the highest in my memory. But there is no reason to think that today’s high multiples will somehow accrue to rural fiber networks, especially if those networks aren’t generating much return. To answer the original question that I’ve been asked – why would private equity want to invest in rural broadband? The more I think about it, the more I come up with the same answer – I have no idea.

[Doug Dawson is president of CCG Consulting.]