Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Uncertainty breeds caution, especially when money itself costs more and is hard to get. But, with the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) spigot set to turn on in about six months, deployments have actually slowed. Financing is indeed difficult, but not just because interest rates are high. The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in May ended a guaranteed cashflow that investors and lenders liked.

The National Telecommunications Information Administration's (NTIA) $3 billion Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) aims to expand access to and adoption of broadband service on tribal land. NTIA is distributing these funds through two rounds of grant funding; NTIA finished announcing awards for the first round of funding in September of 2023, and the application period for the second funding round closed in March 2024.

It’s a familiar scene in communities across the nation: teenagers lingering outside fast-food restaurants and inside malls with laptops on their knees, surfing for free public Wi-Fi to be able to do their homework. Some 17 million students across the nation don’t have internet service at home, hampering their ability to study and complete assignments and prepare themselves for college and the workforce.

A quarter of U.S. households that relied on the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) to help pay for internet will drop their connections. That finding, along with others, was included in a recent Maravedis report, a market intelligence firm that has a focus on wireless infrastructure, multifamily connectivity, and smart technologies.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) outlines specific requirements for states and subgrant recipients to ensure they provide comprehensive broadband service. Specifically, the Program “prioritizes projects designed to provide fiber connectivity directly to the end user.” Providing reliable, high-speed internet to every unit within a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) is implicitly required to meet the goals of the BEAD program.

Well, folks, the day we’ve been waiting for is finally here—the Digital Equity Act funds are finally making their way to communities around the country to support digital inclusion work on the ground.

More than 70,000 Kansas households lack broadband access and over 35,000 additional households’ existing service options render them “underserved.” In addition, many of Kansas’ 8,500 community anchor institutions (CAIs) lack gigabit-level broadband service that would better allow them to provide full levels of support to their communities.

Every person in America should be able to access affordable, high-speed internet no matter where they live or how much they earn. I am proud to highlight that we are finalizing a rule to allow schools and libraries—primarily in low-income and rural areas—to use funding from the Federal Communications Commission’s E-Rate program for Wi-Fi hotspots that will increase access to remote learning and virtual library services. Additionally, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will award over $9 million to the state of Nevada to implement their Digital Equity Plan.

One year has passed since the White House announced how much money each state and territory will receive from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The third grant program funded by the Digital Equity Act of 2021 is the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. This information can guide organizations as they Get Ready to prepare their applications. The grant's purpose is to create the conditions where individuals and communities have the information technology capacity needed for full participation in the society and economy of the United States. Allowable uses of grant awards include: