Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

This tracker features information on active Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program challenge processes, including dates for the opening and closing of online portals to submit challenges as well as links to those portals.

The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will freeze enrollment today (February 7, 2024) because funds are running out for this enormously effective federal program that helps people pay their internet bills.

The Federal Communications Commission's Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), established in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to end this Spring if it does not receive additional funding from Congress soon. The funding situation is so dire that this week the FCC halted any new enrollments in the program. For millions of people eligible for the ACP, affordable broadband service is getting harder to obtain.

The draft New Hampshire Digital Equity Plan was created with partnership and collaboration at its core, as a joint effort between the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension, the National Collaborative for Digital Equity (NCDE), and the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council.

As part of the President’s Investing in America agenda, the Biden-Harris Administration has made historic progress towards lowering costs—including internet costs—for American families across the country.

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez, who joined the agency in September 2023, said that her top priorities for the FCC include setting the stage for vibrant competition and promoting connectivity for every consumer. Key to that connectivity is making spectrum available, which the Commissioner said is an area of top importance.

The Wireline Competition Bureau reminds providers, eligible households, and all other Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) stakeholders of the upcoming enrollment freeze beginning Thursday, February 8, 2024.

Just about six months into his appointed role as broadband director for Nebraska, Patrick Haggerty is upbeat, positive, and taking on Nebraska’s BEAD deployment with a smile.

Before implementing their BEAD programs, every state and territory broadband office will have one last chance to update the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) new broadband availability maps by running their own challenge process. This will be the final step in determining which areas are eligible for a BEAD-funded project.

High-speed internet is vital for all of us to live, work, and connect with one another. In recent years, we have come a long way toward improving internet access and affordability in Wisconsin. However, we are poised to take a major step backwards unless Congress acts to extend the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). As of January 2024, over 22 million households in the US are enrolled and receiving the ACP monthly benefit, including more than 420,000 Wisconsin households.