Oklahoma

The state of Oklahoma has tentatively announced $374 million in broadband funding awards to AT&T, Cox and 29 smaller providers. Funding came through the federal American Rescue Plan Act State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. Awardees will contribute an additional $90 million to project costs. More than 55,000 locations are expected to get high-speed service. As with many other state broadband funding programs, competition was intense. Applicants requested a total of more than $5.1 billion in funding. Awards were made through the Oklahoma Broadband Office.

Growing up in a bustling suburb, accessing the internet was something I took for granted. I never thought about internet access or access in other parts of the country. It wasn’t until I embarked on my journey at USTelecom that I began to learn about the challenges of deploying broadband in rural communities. I headed to Sulphur, Oklahoma, population 4,700, home to the Chickasaw Telephone Company, to better understand what it takes to deploy broadband in rural America. USTelecom members, like Chickasaw, are leading the way in connecting rural America.

What are states doing to mitigate the broadband worker shortage? In some cases, they’re looking at the prison system for prospective technician hires. Thomas Tyler, deputy director of Louisiana’s broadband office, mentioned how a community college in the northern part of Louisiana stood up a career development program for prisoners who were getting released. MJ Barton, Tribal and Programs Outreach Manager at the Oklahoma Broadband Office, said her state “has skill centers” in its prisons and is looking at programs “that will help lift someone else up and give them an opportunity.”

We are witnessing a moment of unprecedented funding to expand high-speed internet across the country. This is life-changing for the estimated 42 million Americans lacking access to a reliable internet connection, including as many as 728,000 Oklahomans. Ensuring everyone has access to affordable internet means making our local economies more resilient and increasing our regional competitiveness. Oklahoma is investing about $1.3 billion for broadband infrastructure and accessibility through state and federal funding.

President Joe Biden announced over $5 billion in new investments from his Investing in America agenda—including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act—to advance rural prosperity, economic development, competition, and sustainability. $274 Million to Expand Critical Rural High-Speed Internet Infrastructure: the Department of Agriculture announced nearly $274 million across 16 grant and loan awards to expand access to high-speed internet for people living and working across eight states.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded 28 grants totaling $74,424,986.73 to 28 Tribal entities as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP). Grants were made to tribes in Alaska, Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin.