Universal Broadband

The internet plays an essential, everyday role in the lives of Americans. Internet access—both fixed and mobile—is a critical resource that allows individuals and families to participate in work and education opportunities, receive telehealth services, access public benefits and services, communicate with loved ones, and more.  Yet affordability remains one of the primary barriers to reliable broadband access.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are working together to significantly accelerate Endangered Species Act (ESA) reviews for Internet for All projects. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) is driving historic investments in broadband and other infrastructure, including the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The state of Vermont has awarded all the broadband funds that it received through the federal Capital Projects Fund (CPF), said Rob Fish, deputy director for the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB). As a result of the construction, some previously unserved and underserved areas of the state won’t need funding through the rural broadband Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, according to Fish. VCBB awarded more than $184.5 million through its CPF-funded Broadband Construction Program, which was supplemented by funding raised by individual communities and network opera

On October 25, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded over $70 million in funding to California through the Digital Equity Act's Capacity Grant Program.

Over $140 million in awards from the ConnectALL Municipal Infrastructure Grant Program will expand broadband infrastructure throughout Central New York, the Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, Mid-Hudson, and Western New York regions. These public-private partnerships will lead to the construction of more than 1,200 miles of publicly-owned fiber optic infrastructure and wireless hubs, connecting over 60,000 homes and businesses with affordable, symmetric service — offering equal download and upload speeds at rates below regional averages.

Evan Feinman, a director with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), addressed the “elephant in the room,” specifically what the new Trump administration will mean for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. “My job is to faithfully execute the laws as written by Congress and as directed by my leadership, and we are getting an awful lot done," he said.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today has approved and recommended for award applications from Delaware, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Puerto Rico allowing them to request access to more than $68 million to implement their Digital Equity Plans. 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 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The awards received are:

Chris Mitchell speaks with Andy Schwartzman, Senior Counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, about pressing legal issues affecting telecommunications policy in the U.S.

The largest-ever federal broadband expansion program—Broadband Equity, Access and Development or BEAD—was passed in November 2021 but is only now really starting to hit its stride. No one has been connected to broadband by BEAD, nor have any BEAD funds been awarded to any internet service provider (ISP) for expansion purposes. But they will come soon.

Charter CFO Jessica Fisher recently announced that Charter will spend substantially less on pursuing Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants than the company spent on Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) [funny wording for how a company wins federal money]. This is big news because a natural assumption in some state broadband offices is that Charter would likely be a big player in the BEAD grant process.