Arkansas

Brightspeed has been awarded more than $213 million in local, state, and federal grants to deploy fiber broadband networks in 12 states.

Michael Baker International announced that the firm was recently selected by the Arkansas State Broadband Office (ASBO) to provide broadband grant administration systems and services. The firm will partner with ASBO to supply services for managing and administering public funding sources—including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD), U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that certain Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) census blocks are now eligible for other funding programs. This comes after Charter Communications and Altice informed the FCC of their decisions to withdraw from the RDOF support program. Both companies will face penalties for withdrawing from the program. 

The City of Cabot, Arkansas, is getting a high-speed broadband network that the city will own and that will be operated by Connect2First, the broadband unit of local power company First Electric Cooperative Corporation. Unlike many broadband buildouts these days, the network will be built without any government funding.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has accepted Arkansas’ Digital Equity plan. The Digital Equity Act, part of the Internet for All initiative and a key piece of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda, provides $2.75 billion to establish three grant programs that promote digital equity and inclusion. The program aims to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy.

At least 13 states intend to undertake “nondeployment” projects as part of their funding under the $42.5-billion BEAD program, according to their initial proposals. The number of states that expect money left over after allocating funds for all unserved and underserved locations could be higher, and perhaps considerably so.

The purpose of the Arkansas Digital Skills and Opportunity Plan is to outline an actionable path forward to make digital opportunity an economic benefit and reality for all Arkansans. This plan will position the state’s residents to pursue cross-sectoral economic growth through broadband-related, nondeployment activities and enhance workforce development. The draft plan is open for public comment until January 25, 2024. ARConnect has a detailed vision for achieving digital opportunity in Arkansas: