Adoption

Texas’ Broadband Development Office Director Greg Conte explains why $3.3 billion in Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding might not be as appealing as it sounds. “Receiving $3.3 billion is great, but with that comes a lot of responsibility, said Conte. “There’s a lot of attention on Texas as we have a significant amount of unserved and under-served homes, businesses, community anchor institutions.

With less than four months before the projected Affordable Connectivity Program end date and without any immediate additional funding, the Federal Communications Commission expects to begin taking steps to start winding down the program to give households, providers, and other stakeholders sufficient time to prepare. The FCC expects funding to last through April 2024, and run out completely in May 2024. The FCC has released a fact sheet on the ACP which can be viewed here.

In 2024, the first Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants will go out — an ambitious $42 billion in subsidies to build broadband infrastructure to close America’s digital divide. While excited and hopeful, I’m not alone in worrying that there is a significant gap between BEAD’s ambition and what it will likely deliver. BEAD alone is not enough. Here are five reasons why:

New polling shows that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) continues to be overwhelmingly popular among Republican, Democratic, and Independent voters alike. Among Independents, the margin of support for ACP has jumped from 40 percent to 56 percent over the last year.

It’s easy to say that fiber is better than cable technology or fixed wireless when in real life, broadband customers make this decision. My firm does a lot of broadband surveys every year, and we find customers who are happy with most broadband technologies. The bottom line is that any broadband technology or provider that a customer likes is good for them. For a customer to remain happy for a long time requires technology that works, customer service that is responsive, and a price that customers are happy with. Are there superior technologies?

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania strives to achieve universal and equitable connectivity to support the state's social, economic, and quality of life outcomes. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) has released Connected and Empowered: A Digital Equity Plan for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to work towards digital inclusion for every resident of the Commonwealth. PBDA's draft plan is available for public comment until January 8, 2024.

Each year, Grace Hill partners with the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) to conduct a Renter Preferences Survey. Here are some of the highlights:

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO), under the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, developed the Texas Digital Opportunity Plan to guide non-infrastructure-related digital opportunity investments. Another aim is to position the BDO to receive State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Administration (NTIA).

The Florida Department of Commerce (FloridaCommerce) released the State of Florida’s Digital Adoption and Use Plan for public comment. FloridaCommerce developed this plan to serve as the state’s benchmark and roadmap for closing the digital divide and increasing digital access across the state.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity developed the North Carolina draft Digital Equity Plan. This plan is a comprehensive strategy that aims to ensure all individuals and communities have access to the digital tools, resources, and skills they need to participate fully in the digital environment.