Federal Broadband Programs

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Utah 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. Utah is receiving $5,676,684.53 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Biden, to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that South Dakota 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. South Dakota is receiving $3,131,269.95 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Biden, to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that Florida 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. Florida is receiving $7,407,200.56 in funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed by President Biden, to plan for the deployment and adoption of affordable, equitable, and reliable high-speed Internet service throughout the state.

On November 18, the Federal Communications Commission unveiled an update of its map showing broadband availability in communities throughout the U.S.

The pandemic spurred policymakers and community leaders around the country to create programs to connect those without home broadband service or computers. These programs have had an impact. New government data show sharp increases in broadband and computer adoption in the 2019-to-2021 time frame. Initiatives such as the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) have helped address “subscription vulnerability” for low-income households. With progress evident, it is time to extend and build on the ACP and local affordability programs.

The Commerce Department, under Secretary Gina Raimondo’s leadership, is now poised to begin distributing nearly $100 billion — roughly 10 times the department’s annual budget — to build up the U.S. chip industry and expand broadband access throughout the country. How Raimondo handles that task will have big implications for the United States economy going forward.

Now that the first version of the Federal Communications Commission’s new broadband map is out, providers across the country are likely scrambling to calculate how much money each state is set to get from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. If estimates put out by industry group ACA Connects are to be believed, California, Texas and Florida are set to get the most support from the program, while Massachusetts, Delaware and Rhode Island will reap the least. Cartesian figures offer a baseline for understanding where funding is likely to be concentrated.

Burt Lum—broadband strategy officer for the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism— is urging state residents to review newly published online broadband internet service maps and report any inaccuracies as part of a crowdsourcing initiative that could help steer millions of dollars in federal funding to Hawaii. Broadband service providers, including Hawaiian Telcom and Charter Communications, have already identified missing data and other problems with the maps, and it is likely there are other errors or flaws that have not yet been spotted.

There are two ways to judge the Federal Communications Commission's new broadband maps—the mapping fabric and the broadband coverage story. The State of Vermont has already sent a challenge letter to the FCC that says that 11% of the locations in the Fabric don’t match Vermont’s own data. Even worse, Vermont says that 22% of locations it knows about are missing from the FCC map. Vermont also looked at the broadband coverage claims by ISPs. According to the new maps, over 95% of Vermont homes have access broadband to broadband of at least 100/20 Mbps.

The digital divide on Tribal lands includes broadband access, adoption, and application. On June 22, 2022, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released an assessment of federal efforts to increase Tribal broadband internet connectivity in the U.S. In the report, the GAO observed that connectivity in Tribal nations still lags behind the United States significantly and that Tribal Nations need more resources to overcome barriers to sustainable broadband access, adoption and application on their lands.