Localism

Later in December 2021, Maine's new broadband agency will submit its plan to the federal government to use $128 million to expand and improve high-speed internet access across the state. The Maine Connectivity Authority is just six months old, but the quasi-governmental agency is already sitting on $21 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan that Democrats in Congress passed earlier this year, and it will soon submit its proposal to the US Treasury Department to spend $128 million more.

Nik Coates, the town administrator for Bristol (NH), is working on a project that would bring New Hampshire closer to the goal of universal coverage. Coates is also part of the Grafton County Broadband Committee, which applied for $26.2 million in federal funds that would go toward building out broadband in that county. But the grant process – through the National Transportation Infrastructure Agency – is facing a challenge from incumbent providers who say they are already providing service in the region.

Gov JB Pritzker (D-IL) and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Office of Broadband announced the Accelerate Illinois Broadband Infrastructure Planning Program. The program – a collaborative effort by the Illinois Office of Broadband, Illinois-based Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and University of Illinois Extension – will help local governments throughout Illinois receive expert support as they prepare to leverage new dollars that will be made available by the state as well as through the historic passage of the federal infrastructure program.

Platte County and Loup Power District have joined a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for broadband infrastructure development, investigating a public-private partnership to bring higher quality broadband to the rural area. The partnership is the brainchild of Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) Special Assistant to the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Innovation Pat Pope. Since retiring from his longtime position as the president and CEO of NPPD in February 2020, Pope has been working on rural broadband development.

Alaska could receive more than $1 billion from the recently passed federal infrastructure package for high-speed broadband networks. According to Alaska Telecom Association executive director Christine O'Connor, that amount of funding would be “transformational.” “We’ve never seen an environment like this before for broadband,” she said. O’Connor was a member of a broadband task force established by Gov Mike Dunleavy (R-AK) that recently released a report on improving internet access.

Residents of St. Helena Parish (LA) have long driven on roads that seem to cave in as quickly as they’re fixed. However, local officials are lauding President Joe Biden’s $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law as a chance for change. Broadband internet and roads — two resources that draw frequent complaints in this rural parish with deeply-rooted infrastructure troubles — are key areas the massive bill targets. It holds $65 billion for internet upgrades nationwide, and $110 billion to refurbish bridges and roads.

The city of South Bend (IN) has plans to expand free WiFi and become more fiber-friendly in 2022. The city currently has over 30 access points for free WiFi, many of which are in public parks or city buildings. Chief Innovation Officer Denise Riedl said the city has state and federal grant money to add even more access points in 2022. She said the city will start taking public input on where those access points should be in early 2022. Riedl said the city is also looking to expand its fiber optic cable capacity in the future.

Since President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure act into law last week, state broadband officials have expressed optimism that its $65 billion in broadband funding can close their digital divides for good.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is thrilled to welcome DeAnne Cueller to the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, where she will serve as the Community Broadband Outreach Team Lead. With the confluence of local, state, and federal energy pouring into finding the right broadband solutions joining an unprecedented amount of money flowing over the next few years, the opportunity exists to move the needle in connecting local broadband champions to each other, as well as the resources and tools they need to build more locally accountable, transparent infrastructure.

Many rural areas across the US lack access to high-speed, affordable internet largely because installing the infrastructure isn't worth the investment for internet service providers to take on. The unprecedented amount of federal funding for broadband included in the recently signed infrastructure law aims to fix the digital divide in a different way than the government has tried before. It will put money into the hands of communities that may know how to best address the issue.