Federal Broadband Programs

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved North Carolina’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables North Carolina to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program. North Carolina was allocated over $1.5 billion to deploy or upgrade high-speed Internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.  

If you know CostQuest at all you probably think of it as the company that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) hired to help the FCC clean up and refine its national broadband map. But the company is also working with state broadband offices on their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) programs.

Now that Broadband Offices have started the process of soliciting Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant applications, I thought I’d discuss a topic that anybody who wins a BEAD grant is going to care about—how a Broadband Office will reimburse grant winners for making expenditures. You might think this is straightforward, but unfortunately it is not. Grant offices are taking a wide variety of approaches to how they reimburse internet service providers (ISPs) for grant expenditures. Why does the method of payment matter? It probably doesn’t to giant ISPs.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) sees the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program as Virginia’s opportunity to finish the job of extending broadband access and also make long-term, transformational investments into broadband affordability and adoption. With the $1.48 billion in BEAD funds for Virginia, DHCD is finalizing plans to extend broadband infrastructure to the remaining unserved locations without a funded solution for connectivity and designing programs to meaningfully address broadband affordability and adoption.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month by showcasing one of its Internet for All grantees that embodies this year’s theme: "Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together." At Universidad Ana G. Méndez, Carolina Campus (UAGM-CC) principal investigator and agent of change Dr. Luis Rosario-Albert leads the effort to connect Carolina County, Puerto Rico residents to Internet services and digital skills training through the UAGCM-CC Broadband Digital Inclusion Project (BDIP).

The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is a means-tested federal program launched in January 2022 to support broadband connectivity among low-income households in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expiration of the ACP benefit, the largest ever consumer support program for telecommunication services in U.S. history, invites a discussion about the impact of the program and what alternative policy mechanisms exist to promote equitable access to broadband.

In 2021, Congress enacted the Digital Equity Act (DEA) as part of the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). This marked the first time that federal lawmakers had dedicated funding specifically for digital equity programming, providing money for state broadband offices to analyze the digital equity landscape in their states and develop plans to reduce the barriers to accessing such critical service. For the first time, all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; and Puerto Rico created digital equity plans under the planning grant program.

When will the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) money start flowing? Most states have had their Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 processes approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), according to NTIA’s Progress Dashboard. Vol. 1 is focused on the mapping challenge process, and Vol. 2 consists of the remainder of the state’s BEAD implementation plan. Yet, the wait continues.

On October 1, Federal Communications Commissioner (FCC) Anna Gomez spoke at Americas Spectrum Management Conference in Washington, DC. She spoke about several issues, including spectrum sharing and the National Spectrum Strategy, and urged conference goers to keep the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) top of mind in their discussions. She also spoke about the history of the FCC's spectrum auction authority, which has been lapsed for over a year.

On November 15, 2021, U.S. Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which created the Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) program. BEAD’s $42.45 billion budget makes it the largest federal broadband deployment program to date.