State

A few short years ago, many might have thought that universal broadband in Louisiana was an impossible dream. But the leadership of Veneeth Iyengar and the state’s partnership with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration is making the impossible possible. Louisiana is on a path to closing its digital divide. We hope that other states will follow Louisiana’s example and get this job done.

Louisiana’s approved Volume 2 illustrates where the key areas of flexibility that has been granted to states in deploying BEAD intersects with the guardrails Congress and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) have set. We'll take a closer look at three key points of the Louisiana plan:

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Louisiana’s Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. Louisiana is the first state to reach this important milestone, which will enable the state to move from the planning phase to the implementation phase for the BEAD program—a major step towards closing the digital divide in Louisiana and meeting the President’s goal of connecting everyone in America with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service.

The Department of the Treasury announced the approval of $140 million in federal funds for Wi-Fi and computers and improving multi-purpose community facilities in Wisconsin under the American Rescue Plan’s Capital Projects Fund (CPF). Wisconsin’s awards include two funding streams: $33 million for digital connectivity technology projects, and $107 million for multi-purpose community facility projects.

In a strong step forward for Ottawa County's Broadband Strategy, the County Board of Commissioners voted to finalize Public-Private Partnerships with 123Net and Tilson Infrastructure.

Massachusetts is at a pivotal moment to drive transformative change in digital equity. Through a once-in-a-generation federal funding investment, the Commonwealth has an unprecedented opportunity to achieve its strategic goals and unlock meaningful economic potential for all residents. In November 2023, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) shared its Massachusetts State Digital Equity Plan for public comment. Public input is welcome through Friday, December 15, 2023. 

The Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) at MassTech announced $20 million in new grants through the state’s Digital Equity Partnerships Program, which supports high-impact and scalable initiatives that reach residents most affected by the digital divide.

An extraordinary, first-ever, nationwide effort in digital equity and opportunity is currently underway. Thanks to funding provided under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), all 50 states and six territories are in the final stages of developing first-of-their-kind statewide digital equity and digital opportunity plans (Plans). Only a year ago, not a single state or territory had developed a comprehensive statewide Plan of this scale focused on the full spectrum of internet adoption issues.

The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) has awarded more than $36.6 million in grants to expand affordable, reliable, high-speed internet service to more than 24,000 homes and businesses in 45 communities across the state. The grants are part of the agency’s All-In programming, funded through the American Rescue Plan and designed to provide a mixture of solutions to address the expansion of last mile infrastructure for high-speed internet. MCA is announcing five Connect the Ready: Cohort 2 grant awards totaling $20.7 million.

There are a lot of fiber networks owned by government entities. I find it perplexing that a lot of these networks are used only for government purposes and nothing else. In some cases, commercial use of the networks is prohibited by the original source of funding that paid for the network. However, a lot of these government-owned networks could be used for commercial purposes. There are some governments that have decided to share the excess capacity. Some networks were built in collaboration with a commercial partner that uses part of the network.