Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

Rep Dusty Johnson (R-SD) introduced legislation to streamline the permitting process for broadband infrastructure projects. The Facilitating Optimal and Rapid Expansion and Siting of Telecommunications (FOREST) Act will cut down bureaucratic red tape to improve broadband access in rural America. The lengthy permitting process on federal lands has prevented the federal government from improving broadband access, even though billions of dollars are available to improve broadband deployment.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has said 2024 will be “the year of execution” for Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD). But the agency still has a ways to go in approving initial proposals for each state and territory. Louisiana was the first to get its plan approved in December.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Assistant Secretary of Commerce Alan Davidson will travel to OFS’s headquarters in Norcross (GA) with Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) to celebrate the announcement of new jobs and increased domestic production of optical fiber and fiber optic cable thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. As a result of the Build America, Buy America Act and the Internet for All programs, OFS has announced it will create 100 jobs, including union jobs, and expand its US production of fiber for use in connecting locations across the US to reliab

On May 9, the US Senate passed the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization package without a proposed amendment to provide $6 billion to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).  Without this injection of new capital to the ACP, the broadband-access subsidy that has helped more than 23 million households get and stay online will expire in May. Free Press Action Internet Campaign Director Heather Franklin said “Free Press Action is deeply disappointed in Congress for failing to pass funding for this essential and successful internet-access subsidy ... While the program’s days

In an era of increasing internet ubiquity, the ability to access and use online tools, services, and information is an essential aspect of everyday life. Many segments of society, however, remain underconnected and even excluded from the digital world. As technology evolves, the harms associated with the digital divide are compounding.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved the District of Columbia, Delaware and Washington state’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval will enable the District of Columbia, Delaware and Washington to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program—a major step towards closing the digital divide and meeting the President’s goal of connecting everyone in America w

Sen Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Chair of the Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband, announced additional co-sponsors for his amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2023 to strengthen the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), complete the equipment removal of China-based companies, Huawei and ZTE, and allow the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to reauction certain spectrum licenses to create more responsive networks for consumers.

Sens Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), JD Vance (R-OH), Peter Welch (D-VT), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) introduced an amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization Act of 2023 to strengthen the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), complete the equipment removal of China-based companies, Huawei and ZTE, and allow the Federal Communications Commission to reauction certain spectrum licenses to create more responsive networks for consumers. Access to broadband provides vital connections to education, health care and economic opportunity.

On behalf of The National Domestic Violence Hotline, we write to request robust additional funding for the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Access to affordable high-speed internet is not a luxury in 2024. This ACP is the largest broadband affordability effort in our Nation’s history which has successfully allowed more than 23 million households to get—and stay—connected to robust broadband service at home.

There’s a new plan to revive the Affordable Connectivity Program, a pandemic-era initiative that provides low-income households in the US with discounts on high-speed internet access. A bipartisan group of senators, led by Sen Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) have proposed using a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization measure as a vehicle for funding the ACP and other telecom programs for a combined $6 billion.