State

A nearly-finished project to upgrade Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls could end up boosting broadband access across the state.

AT&T announced that it will withdraw its 5G home Internet product in New York rather than comply with the law that requires it to offer broadband rates as low as $15. The law went into effect recently when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal for the New York law approved by the New York legislature in 2018.

The Healey-Driscoll administration and the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative’s Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) announced $12,671,242 to expand internet in locations unserved and underserved by broadband in 96 cities and towns across the state.

A major broadband provider and a coalition of smaller developers complained about lack of transparency at the Kansas Department of Commerce in awarding millions of dollars in state and federal funding to upgrade internet service in underserved areas of the state. Concerns about the Department of Commerce’s grant-making process were shared with the Kansas Senate’s budget committee by a Cox Communications lobbyist and the executive director of Communications Coalition of Kansas, which represents locally owned rural internet companies and cooperatives. Megan Bottenberg, a lobbyist with Cox Com

Sens Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) are announcing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is awarding $24.8 million to expand broadband and digital skills training across Maine. Awarded through the NTIA’s Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program, this Maine funding will ensure communities have the access and skills to fully participate in the digital world, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Virginia has made significant progress in providing high-speed connectivity to all its households and businesses over the past decade and anticipates using $1.43 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding to reach 100 percent connectivity to all addresses in the next few years.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has formally received two project rescope requests from the following Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) awardees to rescope their current VATI project area to

Broadband policy can be a complex subject, but it is essential for households and businesses to participate in the modern economy. Both directly and indirectly, lawmakers are routinely engaged in broadband issues given its ever-increasing intersection with economic development, health care, agriculture and education. States have a long track record with driving broadband policy, and in recent years several states have passed broadband legislation to take full advantage of the latest federal investments in broadband infrastructure.

I would greatly appreciate having the opportunity to serve as a thought partner and sounding board as you make necessary reforms to the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and the Broadband Equity Access Deployment (BEAD) Program. To get started on the reforms that would result in shovels in the ground quickly, I would propose the following based on our hard-won experience as the first state in the nation to achieve every major program milestone:  

Illinois is the next state to release its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program application guidelines. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration awarded Illinois $1.04 billion in federal BEAD Program funds to expand high-speed internet access to all homes and businesses. Connect Illinois Round 4 will use these funds to provide broadband to unserved and underserved locations and eligible community anchor institutions.