Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)

States reach the unreachable with broadband line extension programs

Think about internet access in a community like a plate of crumbly cookies: Even if an internet service provider (ISP) takes a big bite out of each of the treats by servicing most addresses, the plate will still have broken pieces left behind. Such is the logic for statewide line extension programs around the US. The purpose of these programs is connecting homes and businesses just out of reach of existing last-mile i

Building Idaho’s Future with Broadband

Since 2019, Governor Brad Little (R-ID) and the Idaho legislature have taken many steps to improve broadband access in the state. Through investment of federal and state funding, Idaho has been able to connect tens of thousands of underserved households in the state, the majority of which are in rural communities of less than 3,000 residents. Policymakers there have primarily focused on the digital divide between urban and rural areas. Inadequate access to high-speed internet disadvantages Idahoans who choose to live in rural parts of our state.

How 8 States Are Using Line Extension Programs to Connect Unserved Residents to Broadband

Over more than a decade, states have invested billions of dollars to extend broadband service to areas without high-speed internet. But now states are increasingly grappling with how to identify and connect unserved homes and businesses that are just out of reach of nearby last-mile infrastructure—the segment of a broadband network that connects a local internet service provider (ISP) to a customer—in areas that are otherwise served. Eight states—Califor

Did The Debt Ceiling Deal Clip Broadband Funding?

On June 3, President Joe Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which suspends the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025—and increases the limit on January 2, 2025—while establishing new discretionary spending limits and rescinding certain unobligated funds.

Federal Broadband Funding Report: These Agencies Are Funding Internet for All (Part II)

On May 8, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth released its second annual report

Chairwoman Rosenworcel’s Response to Senators Cruz and Thune Regarding the Distribution of Funds in Various Programs

Thank you for your letter sent on March 16, 2023, asking for specific information regarding the Federal Communications Commission’s distribution of funds in the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program (EBB), Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), COVID-19 Telehealth program and the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF).

Federal Broadband Funding Report: These Agencies Are Funding Internet for All

On May 8, 2023, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth released its second annual report

‘No silver bullet’: Mesa tackles digital equity from multiple sides

When scanning the Federal Communications Commission’s latest broadband maps for funding opportunities, city staff in Mesa, Arizona, struggled to find places that still needed access. Mesa’s diverse geography includes older neighborhoods that lacked modern internet services as well as new developments with high-speed fiber.

Mississippi BEAD director credits electric co-ops for reaching rural

The most rural parts of Mississippi are home to expansive agricultural lands with low residential density and until recent years, little incentive for broadband providers to build broadband infrastructure. Homes in the Mississippi Delta—the state’s most untenanted area—have typically used satellite service to make do, according to Sally Doty, a former state senator who was appointed as Director of the new Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) office in 2022. As the federal government’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding nears deployment, the BEAM of

Update on Wind Down of COVID-19 Telehealth Program

The Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of the Managing Director announced that the service delivery/receipt deadline for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program was April 10, 2023, due to the signing and enactment of the joint resolution ending the COVID-19 national emergency on the same day. This guidance supersedes earlier guidance identifying May 11, 2023, as the service delivery/receipt deadline.