Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Today, government officials have new strategic decisions to make just as momentous as the ones the intersection of policy and technology dumped in our Federal Communications Commission laps back in the early 1990’s. As we look out on a future in which more and more of our economic and civic activity involves online communications, we should not forget there is an urgent and critical task: eliminating the digital divide.

The Texas Broadband Development Office (BDO) is asking the public for input on internet accessibility, affordability and usage. BDO will use the Digital Opportunity Plan: Public Survey to develop a Texas Digital Opportunity Plan, which is required to draw down federal funding for connecting Texans to reliable, high-speed internet. The survey is open for approximately two months. BDO expects to complete the plan this fall.

There are a variety of landline or wireless technologies that can deliver broadband. In most instances, wireless solutions have an advantage with respect to mobility and transferability (the ability to move broadband investment from one subscriber location to another). However, this advantage often disappears (and sometimes flips) when considering the increased operational expenses of wireless and the ongoing capital investment required.

In his most recent State of the Union address, President Joe Biden highlighted the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program for connecting unserved and underserved locations to broadband. However, in the same address, President Biden went on to declare that “when we do these projects, we’re going to buy American...I’m also announcing new standards to require all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects to be made in America.” The problem is that the country can close the rural digital divide in the next few years, or it can enforce a strict

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) announced a 

A  wave of states has recently created new full-time positions to work on digital inclusion and digital equity.

Delivering broadband to a state as large and diverse as California is complicated. Regions and communities vary by levels of competition, historic investment, and the need for subsidies to incentivize infrastructure deployment and broadband adoption. While broadband infrastructure and increasing adoption have helped power California’s fiscal health and well-being for decades, access to this essential service remains uneven.

History always renders a powerful and positive verdict for any group that understands that there are some things that cannot be allowed to divide a nation. And then acts to close that divide. I don’t want claim that the achieving universal broadband connectivity has the same moral imperative as ending slavery or drastically reducing poverty. But it is no small thing. And sometimes things that are not front-page news, overtime have enormous impacts.

States must be the arbiter of coverage disputes for the allocation of coming federal funds, said broadband experts. The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program directs states to design their own grant programs. To successfully implement these state grant programs, states must “be the source of truth for challenges,” said Peggy Schaffer of mapping software company VETRO. It is the responsibility of states to determine truth by sifting through many sources of coverage claims, said Schaffer.

There are still lots of unanswered questions about the true benefit the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will bestow upon some of the nation's top broadband providers. But a "rough, preliminary estimate" from New Street Research indicates the BEAD opportunity stands to beef up their combined enterprise values by billions of dollars. New Street Research employed a multi-step model to calculate the number of served and unserved homes that can qualify for BEAD subsidies.