GAO Says Public Broadband Investment Hasn't Reached Its Fullest Potential Yet

Since 2020, Congress has steered tens of billions of dollars, including more than $50 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, through federal agencies to connect homes and businesses that lack high-speed internet access. Four agencies account for most of that money: the Federal Communications Commission, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Department of the Treasury. Their combined portfolio includes NTIA's $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, the single largest deployment effort in the group and the one still furthest from completion. In June 2023, the House Appropriations Committee asked the  U.S. Government Accountability Office to evaluate the efficacy of recent federal broadband deployment programs in reaching unserved and underserved areas. On August 31, GAO published its answer in Broadband Deployment: Agencies Should Take Steps to Better Target Underserved Areas and Consider Sustainability.