Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Headlines Daily Digest
Today: House Commerce and FCC Meetings
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NTIA Approves Delaware's “Internet for All” Final Proposal
The Broadband Priorities of the New Senate Commerce Committee
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The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Delaware’s Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Delaware’s Final Proposal outlines its plan for using the more than $107 million in allocated BEAD funding to connect 5,721 households and businesses. Final Proposal approval is the final step required under the BEAD statute before Delaware moves forward with signing agreements with the Internet service providers it has selected to build BEAD-funded networks and begin connecting new locations this year.

Arizona has set January 6 to February 5 as the Round 1 application window in their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program deployment process. The state has been allotted $993.1 million in the program. Arizona’s BEAD Program will be administered by the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). The selection criteria are divided into primary and secondary categories. The primary selection criterion are minimal BEAD outlay (the amount beyond the mandatory 25 percent outlay), cost reasonableness, resiliency, affordability, and fair labor practice. The secondary criteria are speed to deployment, technical requirements, open access for priority projects, local and Tribal coordination, and workforce development. Non-priority broadband projects have their own criteria. They included minimal BEAD outlay; cost reasonableness; resiliency; affordability; fair labor practices; technological requirements; open access for priority projects; local and Tribal coordination; community anchor institutions and workforce development.

BJ Tanksley has been the director of Missouri’s broadband office since 2022 and has lived and breathed rural broadband for even longer. Previously, Tanksley was director of state and local legislative affairs for the Missouri Farm Bureau, where he served on a committee that developed a proposal for a program that would cover some of the costs of deploying high-speed broadband in rural areas where it wasn’t available. Those efforts ultimately led to Missouri being one of the first states to establish a broadband funding program. The Missouri Office of Broadband Development, established in 2017, initially had a budget of $5 million for rural broadband. The broadband office is now getting set to award $1.7 billion in rural broadband funding through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Tanksley is hopeful that Missouri will be able to reach all locations eligible for BEAD with the funding allotted to the state, including more than 90 percent that he estimates will be served with fiber broadband.
The Universal Connectivity Imperative: Sustaining Progress to Close the Digital Access Divide in K-12 Education
Due to rapid changes in the digital landscape, the first decade of the new millennium paved the path for technology-enabled teaching and learning. However, the COVID-19 pandemic entirely reshaped the national conversation in K–12 from one strictly focused on at-school connectivity to one that considers “universal connectivity,” even outside of school grounds, as a required component of a modern education system. Federal data reveals that many American households, especially those with Black, Hispanic, or Indigenous students and those who reside in rural areas, are impacted by this digital access divide. Research continues to suggest that K–12 students are more likely to achieve greater success and well-being when they are connected off-campus.

As the Senate Commerce Committee is set to convene for the first time in the 119th Congress, we look at the membership of the panel and their priorities when it comes to broadband policy. Previously, we looked at the priorities of Committee Chairman Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who sits on the Commerce Committee as well. The committee includes 15 Republicans and 13 Democrats.
Benton (www.benton.org) provides the only free, reliable, and non-partisan daily digest that curates and distributes news related to universal broadband, while connecting communications, democracy, and public interest issues. Posted Monday through Friday, this service provides updates on important industry developments, policy issues, and other related news events. While the summaries are factually accurate, their sometimes informal tone may not always represent the tone of the original articles. Headlines are compiled by Kevin Taglang (headlines AT benton DOT org), Grace Tepper (grace AT benton DOT org), and Zoe Walker (zwalker AT benton DOT org) — we welcome your comments.
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