Broadband Infrastructure Program
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_288.png?itok=8vcJNgz5)
Communications and Technology Subcommittee Hearing Examines the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology convened to conduct oversight of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The subcommittee is considering reauthorizing NTIA for the first time since 1993. Key questions leading into the hearing included:
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_286.png?itok=7uvxjTA8)
What did NTIA's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth Accomplish in 2022?
The Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) is housed within the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Congress created OICG in the ACCESS BROADBAND Act of 2021, part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, to oversee all broadband activity at NTIA and lead federal efforts to fund and expand broadband access across the country.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/ntia_85.jpg?itok=1FFkOri8)
2022 Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth Annual Report
The ACCESS BROADBAND Act requires the
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/ntia_84.jpg?itok=OgMfPC_c)
New Dashboard Highlights Coordinated Federal Investments in High-Speed Internet Programs
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released a new dashboard highlighting federal investments in high-speed Internet programs. NTIA developed the dashboard to accompany the Federal Broadband Funding Report.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_272.png?itok=tXYzoGVv)
Broadband is Key to Pennsylvania's Future
A years-long debate slowed progress in the Keystone State, but in September 2022, Gov. Tom Wolf (D-PA) announced that $500 million from the American Rescue Plan Act will go to local governments to invest in infrastructure, including broadband, accelerating the Commonwealth's efforts to close the digital divide.
Consolidated Communications to Deliver Fidium Fiber Internet to Rural Maine Residents through Connect Maine Partnership
Consolidated Communications will bring Fidium fiber internet to 22,000 rural Maine homes and businesses as part of the Connect Maine Partnership, supported by a $18.3 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). This project will bolster Consolidated’s ongoing work to build fiber-to-the-premises broadband networks to more than 70% of the Company’s service area by 2025.
Consolidated Communications Begins Offering Broadband Through Maine Public Private Partnership
Consolidated Communications now offers 2 Gbps symmetrical service to more than 3,000 homes and small businesses in parts of rural Maine. The deployment was funded, in part, through money awarded to the company and to the Maine Connectivity Authority. The funding came through the Broadband Infrastructure Program administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
House Commerce Republicans Demand Accountability on Biden’s Massive Spending and Inflation Agenda
House Commerce Committee Chair Cathy Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA), along with the chairs of the subcommittee of jurisdiction, wrote letters to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Energy (DOE), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), requesting a full accounting of how they’ve spent taxpayer dollars. The Chairs specifically requested funding information from: the American Rescue Plan Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Ac
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_260.png?itok=3UhQryve)
One Year Later, What We Know About the Broadband Infrastructure Program
In late December 2021, President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a $2.3 trillion COVID relief and government spending bill that extended unemployment benefits and ensured the government kept running. Through that law, Congress allocated $7 billion to help improve connectivity in the U.S. including a new $300 million broadband deployment grant program at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).