AT&T expects broadband grant funding landscape to firm up within 30 days

Communities across the US are struggling to navigate a maze of government funding opportunities for broadband. AT&T’s broadband grant chief said a key piece of the puzzle is expected to drop in the next 30 days which could help make the path forward much clearer. Jeff Luong is president of Broadband Access and Adoption and head of AT&T’s quest to secure government grants. He said state and local officials are still trying to hash out how best to use money allocated by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to achieve their broadband goals. But there’s a hitch: it’s difficult for communities to decide what to do with their ARPA funding without knowing how they’ll be able to use money from the IIJA’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. BEAD will be the vehicle for $42.45 billion of the $65 billion for broadband allocated by the IIJA. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is responsible for distributing that money, began crafting its rules for the program in January. Luong said an initial version of the rules is expected to be unveiled sometime in the next 30 days. “I think it’ll provide some clarity for a lot communities and states to say ‘ok, now that we understand how the BEAD funding will be utilized and what are the rules around that, then we can determine how aggressive or conservative to be with the ARPA funding,’” he said.