American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)

Governor Ned Lamont (D-CT) and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes announced the release of $28 million in grants awarded under the first round of the state’s ConneCTed Communities Grant Program. Administered by DEEP, these grants will support the buildout of broadband infrastructure in more than half of Connecticut’s communities.

Public spaces across Pennsylvania are about to get an internet upgrade. The Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) announced $45 million in funding for the Multi-Purpose Community Facilities Program, which provides money to community organizations and local governments to upgrade public facilities. The program will provide grants to 49 projects in 26 counties across the commonwealth. The grants will go toward building and improving public spaces such as schools, libraries, community centers and healthcare facilities for free, high-speed internet.

Let’s discuss the current Broadband Policy State of Play and how the election may affect it. There are four fundamental goals of broadband policy:

In a nation where some states didn’t have broadband offices until a year or so ago, North Carolina and the state’s director of broadband infrastructure, Angela “Angie” Bailey, are relative broadband veterans. The state has been involved in broadband for 20 years and Bailey has been the broadband director since 2021—a heritage that should benefit the state as the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding program unfolds. Beginning in 2018, North Carolina allocated $15 million per year for broadband, Bailey explained.

Over $158 million in broadband expansion projects were approved by the Oklahoma Broadband Governing Board. The 50 awarded projects are funded by the American Rescue Plan Act Capital Project Funds. The Oklahoma Broadband Office had $159 million available to award for the projects. The projects will bring internet service to over 28,000 homes and businesses spanning 28 counties in Oklahoma, mostly in rural areas. The 50 approved grants are for 12 different internet service providers.

Although a great deal of attention is on the 2024 elections at the national level, state elections could play a major role in how high-speed networks are rolled out, particularly in regards to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The need for reliable communications is very apparent in the state this week. Since Friday, September 27, Western North Carolina has been experiencing catastrophic flooding as a result of Hurricane Helene.

In June 2024, ConnectRI, a program of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation (RICC) released the final and approved version of the state's Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Initial Proposal Volume II.

High-speed, fiber-optic broadband internet is coming to more than 1,300 unserved and underserved locations in rural Knox County (IL). The expansion is the result of investments by the Knox County board that led to more than $12 million in state grants and a total investment of $17 million, including what local and national internet providers will contribute. The county board allocated $2.4 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds to the broadband initiative in March 2022 and a broadband steering team was convened.

Earlier in 2024, the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) sent letters to 22 projects that it believes are at some risk of blowing a key deadline. That’s nearly two-thirds of the 36 projects that Virginia funded in the 2022 fiscal year. Officials say they are confident they will be finished well before the end of 2026.

To connect more Americans, Congress designated a slice of the $1.2 trillion 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), as well as a portion of the $350 billion 2021 American Rescue Plan Act that passed to provide financial relief during the COVID pandemic to fund projects that would cross this digital divide. All told, the bills provide around $90 billion in funding for connectivity spread across a plethora of initiatives. But the question remains: Will this colossal sum be enough to bridge the digital divide?