Legislation

Brightspeed says that it has received $238 million in local, state, and federal grants and funds. The money, the company says, will expand the number of addresses passed by planned projects by 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed, which is based in North Carolina, says that it will continue to pursue state and federal grants. The funding:

A year ago today, Members of Congress introduced the bicameral, bipartisan Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act. The legislation would have provided $7 billion for the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helped millions of low-income Americans access high-speed internet. The House bill, introduced by Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), eventually gained 232 cosponsors, which is enough to pass. The Senate bill, introduced by Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), gained 32 cosponsors, including Vice-President-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH), and advanced out of committee.

In its State Digital Equity Plan, the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) embraces digital equity to ensure that every person in New Mexico has equal opportunities to access education, health care, job prospects, government services, and information critical to personal growth and well-being.

The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s (LEO) Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) is advancing efforts to bridge the digital divide with the announcement of the project application period for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Starting Jan. 9, internet service providers, communities and eligible participants will have the opportunity to submit project applications to bring high-speed internet to unserved and underserved locations across Michigan.

Back in 2024––October, to be exact––the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded the Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) over $22 million through the Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program to implement its Digital Connectivity

The Rural Utilities Service, a Rural Development agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), announces the acceptance of applications under the Community Connect Grant (CCG) program for fiscal year (FY) 2025. This notice is being issued prior to passage of an FY 2025 appropriations act in order to allow applicants sufficient time to prepare their applications and give the Agency time to process applications within FY 2025. Based on FY 2024 appropriated funding, RUS estimates that approximately $26 million will be available for FY 2025.

An impressive milestone is inching its way to completion in North Dakota.

Pretty much everybody at this point knows the U.S. is trying to close its digital divide with the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. But what about the rest of the world?

Every day at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), we work to promote technology in the service of human progress. That has been the throughline of our actions on Internet connectivity, spectrum and tech policy.

A lot of internet service providers (ISPs) that seek grant money take advantage of in-kind matching rules. In-kind contributions recognize non-cash benefits of property, goods, or services that will benefit a grant project. Many grant programs allow in-kind matches to be used in calculating the matching funds being provided by a grant applicant.