The cost for broadband service in the United States is high, and getting higher. In most metropolitan areas of the United States, residents are lucky to have two competing providers from which to choose. A third player in large metro markets is rare, but it's been seen before. The US bishops have argued for greater internet access for all. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops, during the coronavirus pandemic, was a member of an informal coalition that sought to expand access to the internet in unserved and underserved areas. Parents scrambled to find hotspots so their children could do their homework and keep current on their assignments and this led to a lot of fast-food parking lot homework sessions to access the eateries' Wi-Fi. Americans living just beyond an established network were given five-figure quotes by internet service providers to get connected. Assuming one does get internet connectivity, the quality of the experience can be lacking a certain something. Speed, perhaps. Internet service providers boast of "speeds of up to" in their advertising. But rarely if ever do they disclose an average or a median speed for consumers' internet connection. Guaranteeing a speed "floor" seems quaint. One reason for the absence of speed: the lack of net neutrality.

The Arizona Commerce Authority announced 20 awardees of the Arizona Broadband Development Grant Program (ABDG), investing $100 million to expand high-speed broadband to Arizona’s unserved or underserved areas. The Arizona Commerce Authority allocated $75.7 million to 14 awardees in rural counties and $23.6 million to six awardees in urban counties, spurring $112.8 million in local matching funds. Grants were awarded through a competitive process based on criteria such as return on investment and local support. When completed, the grant projects will increase connections for homes, businesses, public safety agencies, medical facilities, schools, libraries and more while catalyzing new economic development and enhancing opportunities for sectors such as tourism, trade, and agriculture. Examples of projects include installing high-speed fiber-optic infrastructure, deploying Wi-Fi access points and networking equipment for broadband internet, and expanding existing and middle-mile fiber networks.

Yellowstone Fiber already has $65 million in private funding in hand to build an open access network in Montana, but is now seeking to tap into millions more in federal funding to accelerate the pace of its rollout. Formerly known as Bozeman Fiber, the operator teamed with UTOPIA Fiber in late 2021 and announced plans to deliver fiber to more than 20,000 locations across the city of Bozeman, Montana. It subsequently rebranded as Yellowstone Fiber and kicked off construction in February 2022. The company's original deployment plan would’ve seen it start work in the city’s urban core and fuel deployments in more rural areas using subscriber revenue generated by those initial rollouts. By tapping into federal funding provided to the state via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Yellowstone Fiber could reach those rural areas two to three years faster than originally expected. Thus far, Yellowstone has applied for $10 million in ARPA funding through the state’s ConnectMT program. Yellowstone wants to use the funding to cover 15 unserved and 1,522 underserved locations in Gallatin County. Cable operator Charter Communications is also seeking funding for Gallatin County, requesting more than $11 million to cover 63 unserved locations and 2,111 underserved locations across the county within a 23 month timeframe.