Level of Government

Indiana  Attorney General Todd Rokita announced a $15 million settlement with Frontier Communications to ensure that Hoosiers receive the services for which they have paid. The settlement especially benefits residents living in rural communities. In May 2021, Attorney General Rokita sued Frontier Communications alleging they violated the Indiana Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. The Federal Trade Commission and several other states also sued the company. Specifically, the lawsuit argued the company misrepresented internet speeds and reliability to consumers.

The word "competition" has a different meaning in Washington (DC) and other centers of regulation around the globe than it does in Silicon Valley. Industry leaders view acquiring startups, keeping customers inside their existing ecosystems, and trying to dominate new platforms as part of the natural process of business competition.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) awarded a $4.5 million Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Recovery Assistance grant to the Port of Lewiston, Lewiston, Idaho, to expand internet connectivity for commerce, public health and safety and learning in North Central Idaho. This project will support the construction of a 95-mile segment of fiberoptic cable running from Moscow to Grangeville. This EDA grant will be matched with $1.1 million in local funds and is expected to create 120 jobs, according to grantee estimates. 

To help coordinate broadband efforts at the state level, policymakers have turned to legislation and executive orders to create statewide broadband advisory boards, task forces, and other similar agencies. At its core, a broadband advisory board is made up of individuals from different sectors who advise state broadband programs, governors, or legislatures. However, not all advisory boards are the same.

The Federal Communications Commission authorize $791,604,299 through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to six providers to fund new broadband deployments to over 350,000 estimated locations in 19 states. The top three states receiving funding include Illinois, $212 million, Arizona, $140 million, and Iowa, $113 million. This round of funding supports projects using a range of network technologies, including gigabit service hybrid fiber/fixed wireless deployments that will provide end-user locations with either fiber or fixed wireless network service using licensed spectrum.

Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch (R-IN) are leading the largest broadband investment in the state's history. Ball State University researchers found that thousands of homes across the state--urban and rural, low-income, and non-English speaking--experience the brunt of lacking access to broadband internet access. To combat this, Lt. Gov Suzanne Crouch created the Office of Broadband Opportunities in 2018 to identify needs and eliminate roadblocks to broadband deployment and digital literacy in the state.

At the annual National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) conference in Denver, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) highlighted the progress Congress has made to expand access to high-speed, affordable broadband and close the digital divide. In 2021, Sen. Bennet introduced the bipartisan Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Angus King (I-MA), which was incorporated into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to make the single largest investment in broadband in history.

Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) announced that nearly 85,000 households and more than 2,400 businesses in 69 North Carolina counties are set to receive access to high-speed internet thanks to more than $206 million of Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants. This is the state’s largest round of GREAT grant awards to date. With this announcement, over $260 million in GREAT grants have been awarded to providers since July 2022.

In Texas, the Odessa City Council voted to allow the installation of infrastructure for citywide broadband internet under its streets by SiFi Networks in a deal worth more than $100 million. Under the terms of the 30-year contract elected officials agreed to, SiFi has access to all public rights-of-way to install, maintain and operate the fiber optic infrastructure necessary for an open access network.

Pershing County, Nevada is one of many rural communities throughout the US that will receive new, fiber optic, high-speed internet connections through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) ReConnect Program.