Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

New federal programs and resources through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act  provide an unprecedented opportunity to build on the existing infrastructure and expertise of our nation’s libraries to inform state digital equity plans and accelerate broadband adoption and skills building for all nationwide. Libraries provide:

For decades, municipal broadband operations have been subject to a minefield of restrictions and barriers designed to make the prospect of establishing or maintaining a community broadband network costly, difficult, and unsustainable. There are currently 17 states in total that have restrictive legislation against municipal broadband networks in the US.

According to Dr. Karen Mossberger—a professor in the school of public affairs and director of the Center on Technology, Data and Society at Arizona State University—prosperity and income increases correlate with the number of broadband subscriptions in an area, whether it’s rural, urban, or suburban, across all demographics. Further still, “Broadband is important for participation in society,” said Mossberger. “It’s important for economic development as well as individual opportunities.

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA) have entered into a Collaborative Workforce Development Agreement to advance critical workforce education and training for the broadband communications industry. With $42.45 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding for broadband infrastructure, in addition to the $80 billion invested annually by the broadband industry, there has never been more demand to build broadband networks. To meet that demand, industry, and government must join hands to address workforce gaps.

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program has $42.5 billion available to cover some of the costs of bringing broadband to unserved and underserved rural areas. States will administer the program but must first have a plan approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and, as new research from BroadbandNow shows, some states face an important hurdle as they prepare their plans—a hurdle that involves anti-municipal broadband laws.

The Federal Communications Commission is definitely not going to give broadband providers’ data-collection methodology confidential treatment unless they come up with different reasons than the ones being offered up by dozens of providers. In dozens of orders responding to the requests, FCC Wireline Bureau Chief Kirk Burgee said the argument that the providers’ fixed-broadband coverage methodology data is “highly sensitive in that it contains statements about the Company’s broadband network and service provision that is not generally publicly available” does not warrant that special treatme

The Department of Commerce/Enterprise Services intends to negotiate a sole source, firm fixed price contract with CostQuest Associates for Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric, Technology Availability Likelihood (TAL), and Network Cost Model data to meet the congressional mandate at the estimated price of $49.9 Million. This procurement will provide data to support operational needs for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD), Digital Equity (DE), the Access Broadband Act, as well as the Internet for All initiative.

A guide for states and territories to use when planning high-speed Internet deployment projects. The high-speed Internet deployment and digital equity projects funded through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will create over 150,000 of good-paying jobs. This guide lays out strategies and examples for meeting funding requirements and ensuring a skilled, competitive, and diverse workforce.

To receive subsidies to expand broadband to unserved areas under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) requires states to implement plans to ensure middle-class affordability. Since the NTIA did not conclude that broadband was unaffordable for middle-class households, the threshold question is whether broadband is affordable to the middle class. Affordability, which has no formal definition, is defined by reference to adoption.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) conducted an annual broadband survey in 2021. The survey asked folks who didn’t have home broadband what they would be willing to pay, with the question, “At what monthly price, if any, would your household buy home Internet service?” The purpose of the survey was to understand the kind of price points that might be needed to get broadband to more of these households. Three-quarters of respondents said they would only get broadband if it was free. I find this result to be troubling for several reasons: