State

Forty-four addresses in two rural areas of York County (SC) have gained access to Comporium’s fiber-based multi-gigabit internet service. Over the past few months, Comporium placed two miles of fiber-optic network to reach addresses off Hands Mill Highway and Kingsburry Road. This project, extending the company’s fiber-optic network, provides customers the ability to access internet speeds of up to five Gigabits per second. Comporium continues to work with state and federal agencies to find ways to upgrade service to more rural customers.

FOCUS Broadband is accepting orders for high-speed internet service in the first phases of their Perquimans County (NC) broadband project. In 2022, FOCUS Broadband partnered with Perquimans County government to apply for a grant through the North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT) Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) Grant Program.

Digital equity cannot be fully realized without the participation of educational institutions, including K-12 public schools, community colleges, historically black and other minority serving colleges and universities, and extension programs. Many state digital equity plans embrace education and potential collaborations with educational institutions. All states acknowledge that digital equity is critical to education.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $42.45 billion in grant funding to states via the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD). IIJA also underscores that any state receiving these funds may not exclude local governments from applying to use these funds to build their own broadband networks.

Brightspeed launched a high-speed internet service that it hopes to reach 160,000 homes and small businesses in Johnson City, Elizabethton, Kingsport, and other surrounding communities in Tennessee. Brightspeed, which is headquartered in Charlotte (NC), is currently the nation’s fourth-largest fiber broadband builder. The company is looking to fill a need in a market where one in 10 Tennessee residents do not have access to high-speed internet. Brightspeed was one of the recipients of $162.7 million in state broadband grants that were announced by Gov.

In order to balance the state’s budget, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed $2 billion in cuts to broadband projects that would have expanded internet access across the state. The move outraged digital equity advocates in Los Angeles who say it could jeopardize efforts to reach some of the most vulnerable groups in the area. About 200,000 LA County households don’t have internet. “We are disappointed to see this rollback,” said Cristal Mojica of the Michelson Center for Public Policy.

The US government has provided more detail on how a former AT&T executive allegedly bribed a powerful state lawmaker's ally in order to obtain legislation favorable to AT&T's business. Former AT&T Illinois President Paul La Schiazza is set to go on trial in September 2024 after being indicted on charges of conspiracy to unlawfully influence then-Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D).

The Minnesota broadband scene is heating up as service providers rally against new legislation they say will stifle the state’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) plan. Minnesota was awarded over $651 million as part of the federal BEAD program. The state’s initial BEAD plan was submitted last year and is still awaiting approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Virginia’s recently passed law to speed broadband deployment to rural areas now has a financial component. Gov Glenn Youngkin’s (R-VA) signature on the General Assembly’s budget bill will move $50 million over two years from the general fund to the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative, or VATI. The new law, SB 713, is set to go into effect July 1.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Pennsylvania’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative.