Universal Broadband

The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO), home to the Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI), is directed under state law to operate a broadband grant program consistent with the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. The Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) Program is designed to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure to locations currently without 100/20 megabits per second (Mbps) service.

Prior to the election on November 5th, I wrote about Arizona’s Congressional races and the candidates’ positions and records on broadband issues. In the House, I highlighted two races: the 1st and 6th Districts. In both of those races, the Republican candidate prevailed, riding the wave of support for Donald Trump. In Arizona’s highly publicized Senate race, however, Democrat Ruben Gallego was able to find success despite Trump carrying the state in the presidential race.

BoomerTECH Adventures and Coastal Maine Regional Broadband (CMRB) held their first round of free workshops providing digital literacy training and education with the goal of helping Midcoast libraries and organizations support their clients to access and utilize high-speed internet effectively.

An $11 million investment in regional infrastructure is planned to bring high-speed, low-latency connectivity to more than 6,600 locations in western Maine. These are sites that either don’t currently have access to the internet or have access to slower broadband or copper-based connections. The funding for the project, which entails building more than 450 miles of fiber, was announced by FirstLight, a provider of digital infrastructure services. The Maine Connectivity Authority made the agreement with FirstLight to receive the funding.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) seems to hate many things about the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Congress passed in 2021 with bipartisan support. Cruz’s hatred could presage rocky times for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program in 2025 because he is likely to head up the Senate Commerce Committee when Republicans take majority control of the Senate in January.

Grafton County, New Hampshire's second-largest county, began a $17 million project to construct a 200-mile fiber-optic middle-mile network. The initiative, led by the Grafton County Board of Commissioners and the county’s broadband committee, with infrastructure provider eX² Technology, aims to transform connectivity in 25 municipalities across the county that currently lack reliable Internet access. The project was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed the dire need for broadband expansion across rural Grafton County.

Information on racial disparities in Maryland housing and neighborhood conditions, as well as the current and ongoing work of the Department to address inequities. Highlights efforts toward reducing digital redlining in Maryland through statewide investments and the Maryland Digital Equity Plan. A lesser-known consequence of disinvestment, “digital redlining” refers to the underdevelopment of broadband infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods.

At last count, New Hampshire had about 31,000 unserved and underserved locations eligible for the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Matthew Conserva, New Hampshire’s broadband program manager, expects that number to drop considerably by the time the state starts taking applications for $197 million in BEAD funding allotted to it. The number of locations eligible for BEAD funding has been declining as deployments are made that were funded through various federal funding programs, Conserva said.

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress and the Biden Administration created the “Internet for All” Initiative, a $65 billion investment to ensure all Americans can access affordable, reliable, and high-speed internet. But with new leadership coming to the White House and the U.S. Senate in January, the promise of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act may not be realized. On November 21, 2024, incoming Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX), sent a pair of letters to the U.S.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended an application from Illinois, allowing the state to request access to more than $23 million to implement its Digital Equity Plan. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.