Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

There is a mountain of complaints to be made about the Federal Communications Commission's new National Broadband Map. In some parts of the country, there are a lot of missing rural locations, including entire subdivisions. Close analysis of the map shows what folks in the broadband world have always known, but were unable to prove, that the big cable companies and telcos don’t cover everybody. It is these unserved folks in the middle of cities that I call the hidden unserved locations. These little pockets came about for a variety of reasons.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Michigan received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is clear: the $42.5 billion for broadband buildout should prioritize projects for the unserved. Specifically, states should prioritize projects where 80% of the locations served by the project are unserved. It may be impossible to reach all the unserved with projects that are 80% or more unserved without gerrymandering the project areas or changing the rules. Census block groups work well as a proxy for broadband project areas because they’re not too big and not too small.

The Broadband Map Integrity service is a new offering is designed to help states, municipalities, schools, and other interested parties to quickly and efficiently submit challenges to the recently-released FCC maps, the Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric), that will inform the allocation of $42.5 billion in BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) grants.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has made multiple announcements releasing funds to help states develop plans for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. With dollars in hand or incoming, a ticking clock, and few internal resources, several states are now turning to consultants for help. States have 270 days from receipt of planning funds to submit a five-year action plan to NTIA on how they will structure their BEAD and digital equity programs to close their digital divides.

Technical assistance for broadband expansion in Alabama is the focus of a series of meetings in the state. The Alabama Community Broadband Technical Assistance program kicked off recently and will be offered in each of the state’s 67 counties. The program works to provide technical assistance to municipalities and other public stakeholders in the state who are working to ensure broadband is accessible to everyone.

When the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband maps came out, we were quick to compare the number of unserved locations in the new maps to the number of unserved housing units in the previous Form 477 data. As expected, the number of unserved locations doubled, from 3.6 million to 7.8 million. But that comparison isn’t apples-to-apples.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Washington received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Connecticut received its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications, Media and Broadband held a hearing examining ongoing and past efforts within the public and private sectors to bring affordable, resilient and secure broadband to all communities. Four witnesses testified during the hearing: