Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Vermont stakeholders have collaborated on an application for $114 million in funding through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) middle mile grant program. If awarded, the funding would represent over 10% of the approximately $1 billion allotted to the NTIA program, which has proven to be a highly competitive one. The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) spearheaded the application. The request would cover some of the costs of the proposed 1,663-mile fiber network.

The US Department of the Treasury approved broadband projects in an additional group of three states under the American Rescue Plan’s (ARPA) Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF): Massachusetts, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Together, these states will use their funding to connect more than 91,000 homes and businesses to affordable, high-speed internet. A key priority of the CPF program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure.

AT&T has made a point of pursuing public-private partnership agreements in recent months, striking deals in Indiana, Kentucky, and Texas. AT&T President of Broadband Access and Deployment Jeff Luong cites the company's ahead-of-schedule project in Indiana as a template for what might be achieved through future projects funded by the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The executive noted that in addition to the publicly announced partnerships in Indiana, Kentucky, and Texas, AT&T has won a handful of other deals it hasn’t disclosed.

If the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD, program is to be a game changer for digital equity, grant makers must ensure government dollars go where they’re needed most. They should start by looking at the growing movement of community connectivity providers whose primary purpose is to help people meet their digital needs at affordable prices.

This is Digital Inclusion Week 2022, a time to raise awareness of solutions addressing home internet access, personal devices, and local technology training and support programs.

With a $14 billion appropriation from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) has enrolled more than 14 million households in a short period of time and may be the most effective broadband benefit program to date with its direct-to-consumer model. The innovative program offers a valuable policy learning opportunity as lawmakers consider sustainable long-term funding options to continue it. Many features of the ACP reflect guidance from policy academics and researchers that supports a model that allows consumers more options.

House Commerce Republican Leader Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) sent a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Alan Davidson urging NTIA to address burdensome permitting processes and other regulatory red tape that may impede the success of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program that was created under the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act. To prevent slow deployment and the determent of investment, the Members urged the agency to require eligible states and territories to work with t

On Monday, September 26, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Director of Research and Fellowships Dr. Revati Prasad hosted an online panel discussion, From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and for Communities, on how communities and states are collecting data on local broadband availability as the Federal Communications Commission rolls out the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program.

Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Jerry Moran (R-KS)—joined by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Rev. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV)—introduced the Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (BGTTA).

On September 21, 2022, representatives from the USTelecom – the Broadband Association, CTIA, NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, and ACA Connects – America’s Communications Association met with staffers in the Federal Communications Commission's Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics to offer recommendations to maximize the effectiveness of the Affordable Connectivity Program’s (ACP) data collection and to keep it simple, streamlined, and efficient for the benefit of consumers and providers alike.