National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Under President Joe Biden, rural Americans could benefit from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to expand fast, affordable internet access across the country by 2030. However, the lack of broadband infrastructure is particularly problematic in rural areas, where internet service is often unavailable or limited. Attempts to get broadband to everyone are not ne

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a clarification of its intentions for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Buy America rules, stating that it still plans to take a strict approach to enforcing Buy America. In practical terms, that means that NTIA intends to only seek minor waivers from the Buy America rules. The NTIA is proposing that 90% of the materials used to construct BEAD projects—especially manufactured products like fiber-optic communic

According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), 8.3 million households lack access to high-speed broadband. Providing universal access to communications service—initially voice service and now broadband—has always been a challenge in the United States. Although connecting urban, populated areas is relatively easy, serving sparsely populated rural areas is difficult due to differences in terrain and population density.

The Utah Broadband Center (UBC), part of the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, asks for public feedback on Utah’s draft of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal Volume 1. The total funding allocation for Utah is $317.4 million, which will be distributed to various broadband projects through a competitive grant process. To ensure the greatest impact for Utahns, community members and stakeholders are encouraged to provide input to the state’s proposed process to identify areas needing broadband service.

Fixed wireless access (FWA) speeds are fast for those close to a transmission tower but slower as the distance increases. According to speed tests from a Verizon tower in a suburban county, the closest locations are getting 300 Mbps, while customers just over a mile out are getting around 75 Mbps, and by the third-mile radius, speeds have dropped a lot closer to 25 Mbps download.

Texas could have nearly $5 billion directed toward expanding broadband availability statewide if voters approve a state constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. Texas will receive more than $3.3 billion in federal money—more than any other state—to help expand broadband access.

In June, the Biden administration allocated $42.45 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding among states—the largest single pot of federal broadband spending in our country’s history. Biden officials at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) made these allocations despite repeated requests from lawmakers and communities across the country to first improve the data underlying NTIA’s funding decisions.

AT&T CFO Pascal Desroches said it's a safe bet that AT&T and BlackRock's joint venture—Gigapower—will tap into Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding; but stressed the importance of targeting those funds in “areas that make sense for us.” Deroches said “We are not getting dollars for the sake of getting dollars. We want to make sure we can get an appropriate return on those.”

Northwest Fiberworx, the communications union district (CUD) for 22 northwestern Vermont communities serving 30,000 customers, has signed a deal for fiber-optic broadband with South Royalton-based Great Works Internet (GWI) Vermont. The Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) will provide funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Infinera will join the Build America, Buy America (BABA) movement by bringing semiconductor component manufacturing to the US. Infinera is joining a cohort of equipment providers that have onshored operations as the industry prepares for $42.5 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding. To help operators comply with the BEAD's BABA requirements, Infinera will leverage its optical compound semiconductor facility in California and testing and packaging facility in Pennsylvania.