Rural America is Losing Patience

Local broadband advocates and politicians tell me that folks with little or no broadband are hounding them about when they are going to see a broadband solution. A large part of the frustration is that folks have heard that broadband is coming to rural America, but they aren’t seeing any local progress or improvement. A big part of the reason for this frustration is that folks aren’t being given realistic timeframes for when they might see a solution. Politicians all gladly told the public that they had voted to solve rural broadband when the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) legislation was enacted in November 2021. But almost nobody told folks the actual timelines that go along with the broadband funding. Such grant timelines see broadband installations and improvements between 2024 and 2028. However, broadband providers can build earlier than that. Broadband providers realize that the longer they delay construction, the higher the likely cost of the construction. But some grants have built-in delays, such as having to complete an environmental study before any grant funds will be released. The big problem is that people without good broadband want a solution now, not years from now. Ultimately, folks are further frustrated when they hear that local governments are creating partnerships or giving grants to broadband providers from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding – but again, with no immediate action or disclosures of the timeline.