Federal Broadband Programs

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Louisiana’s Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Louisiana’s Final Proposal outlines its plan for using the more than $1.3 billion in allocated BEAD funding to connect 140,030 households and businesses. Louisiana is the first state to have its Final Proposal approved.

The incoming Trump administration should not pause the government’s $42.5 billion effort to end the digital divide, said Brandy Reitter, head of Colorado’s broadband office. There’s been speculation the Trump administration might alter some Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rules the GOP has been strongly critical of, from its fiber preference to its low-cost service requirement for low-income households served on subsidized infrastructure.

Private and federal broadband investments have achieved universal broadband deployment throughout the United States. Still, barriers that prevent some households from accessing the Internet remain. This lack of broadband adoption, not lack of deployment, is the central reason for the remaining digital divide. Therefore, identifying and addressing barriers to broadband adoption should be the core of broadband policy. One major barrier to broadband adoption is whether low-income households can afford it.

New Hampshire's $90 million broadband expansion plan to provide access to 48,000 unserved and underserved addresses across 115 municipalities has surpassed the halfway mark, according to the Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA). As one of the first states to receive approval for its broadband expansion program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, New Hampshire awarded a total of $90 million in two rounds of funding, to connect a total of 48,016 homes and businesses by the end of 2026.

The vast majority of funding in the immense Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is focused on building physical networks to locations where people are unconnected or insufficiently connected. Investments and research have traditionally privileged the wires and poles of broadband infrastructure without accounting for or making explicit the human infrastructure needed to enable digital opportunity.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it has awarded nearly $18 million to seven Tribal entities to expand high-speed Internet access and adoption. The funding from the nearly $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All Initiative.

I’ve seen some vendors speculating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is finally going to unleash a big pile of spending in 2025. I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble, but even if the BEAD grants continue to move on the current path, there will not be a big wave of construction from BEAD this year.

Brightspeed says that it has received $238 million in local, state, and federal grants and funds. The money, the company says, will expand the number of addresses passed by planned projects by 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed, which is based in North Carolina, says that it will continue to pursue state and federal grants. The funding:

A year ago today, Members of Congress introduced the bicameral, bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act. The legislation would have provided $7 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helped millions of low-income Americans access high-speed internet. The House bill, introduced by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), eventually gained 232 cosponsors, which is enough to pass. The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), gained 32 cosponsors, including Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH), and advanced out of committee.

In its State Digital Equity Plan, the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) embraces digital equity to ensure that every person in New Mexico has equal opportunities to access education, health care, job prospects, government services, and information critical to personal growth and well-being.