American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

I’m starting to see situations where a shortage of construction labor is causing problems for some broadband providers. The supply chain issues for materials have largely been solved but the supply chain for construction contractors is a worsening situation for many providers. To give an example, I know a broadband provider with a long history of building networks that recently went to bid for two projects that are being funded by local American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funding.

How can we make the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding go as far as possible? The answer is that state grant plans need to be laser focused on how to generate competition and keep costs as low as possible. If we can do that, we stretch the BEAD dollars as far as possible. If we don’t, we run out of money. It’s really quite easy to construct this framework. We only need two pieces of data: the number of unserved and underserved locations, and what we pay to reach them.

North Dakota Information Technology (NDIT) has completed the Capital Project Fund (CPF) grant program award process, resulting in eleven grants to seven service providers totaling more than $37 million. Once completed, the projects will provide more than 2,100 homes and businesses with Fiber to the Premise (FTTP). The infrastructure will deliver service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical speeds of 100Mbps. Grants awarded and coverage area include: 

Across North Carolina, 25,825 households and 862 businesses in 33 counties will get high-speed internet thanks to nearly $80 million in additional Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants, Governor Roy Cooper (D-NC) announced. These latest grant awards add to the more than $269 million total awarded in 2022 to connect 117,405 households and businesses. As part of the federally-funded GREAT grant eligibility requirements, all internet service provider applicants must participate in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

The state of Tennessee will begin accepting applications in September 2023 for $185 million in grant funding for broadband deployments in unserved and underserved areas.

President Biden’s economic agenda—Bidenomics—is growing the American economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. And if most South Carolina Republican Members of Congress had their way, the state would have lost out on over $2.6 billion in infrastructure funding and nearly $1 billion in funding for high-speed internet for South Carolina. Nearly $1 billion in funds were awarded to South Carolina to deliver affordable, high-speed internet to every South Carolinian under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), using Made in America material.

FOCUS Broadband has completed work to bring fiber optic high-speed internet to rural communities near Magnolia, Rose Hill, and Teachey (NC). These projects were made possible through two grants totaling more than $2.5 million dollars awarded in 2020 through North Carolina's Growing Rural Economies through Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program as well as the Special Supplementary Round of the GREAT Grant Program. FOCUS Broadband contributed more than $1 million dollars in matching funds to bring service to these rural areas in Duplin County.

As they begin a comprehensive effort to convince the country that “Bidenomics” is working, President Joe Biden and his allies are gleefully needling Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) for celebrating Alabama’s receipt of federal funds to expand rural access to high-speed internet, money that came from a bill President Biden signed and Sen Tuberville, like most Republicans, voted against. It’s not an uncommon story these days; the administration is spreading a huge amount of federal funding around the cou

Some 8,200 homes, businesses and schools in unserved and underserved parts of Lumpkin County (GA) will, for the first time, be eligible for high-speed fiber internet. The $20.4 million project, to provide fiber broadband to Dahlonega and throughout the county, is expected to be completed in 2024. It is a result of a public–private partnership between the county and Kinetic. The county will use about $6.9 million in state grant money from the federal government.

Verizon won broadband funding from two Pennsylvania counties recently. Verizon Vice President of Business Operations for Wireline Networks Doug Sullivan offered details about the wins, which are for areas where the company has begun deploying its Fios fiber broadband service. The Pennsylvania awards were for Washington and Westmoreland counties.