The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association plan to publish a playbook to assist state governments as they receive broadband funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $42.5 billion that is dedicated to broadband will flow through a new program called Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD). The program will be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which has been tasked with distributing the $42.5 billion to administrators in all 50 states as well as territories and the District of Columbia. Currently, the top job at the NTIA has not been filled with a Senate-appointed candidate. But Alan Davidson has been going through the confirmation process and is likely to be confirmed soon. In the meantime, the FBA and NTCA are working on their Broadband Infrastructure Playbook to help state governments. There isn’t any nationally-coordinated broadband template that all states use. The playbook that the trade groups are developing will provide a detailed overview of the statutory requirements of the new broadband infrastructure law and an overall program plan with sequencing and timing of activities. It will also include templates for filing state funding applications. The guide will be published in early 2022 in advance of the NTIA’s Notice of Funding Opportunity, which is expected by May 2022.

Imagine a government program that would connect millions of financially-challenged households to broadband in their homes. In a world of “If it sounds too good to be true…” you can expect that skepticism reigns. Fortunately, the Affordable Connectivity Program is not only a real program, but Congress allocated about $14 billion to help lower-income households pay for internet service. The catch? People have to know the program exists and believe it will deliver on its promises. Congress earmarked $100 million for outreach and education “regarding the broadband and communications affordability programs of the Federal Communications Commission” in the Build Back Better Framework, but even if it doesn’t pass the Senate, there are strategies for success of the ACP that can be taken from the FCC’s EBB program playbook. The FCC counts more than 32,000 EBB partners nationwide, from food banks to libraries. The FCC also held more than 300 events with members of Congress, tribal leaders, national organizations, local organizations and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), as well as more than 30 Spanish language presentations. The FCC even got the National Football League to run public service announcements on the EBB program.

[Kim Keenan is co-chair of the D.C.-based Internet Innovation Alliance]

The Jasper (TX) City Council voted to go forward with its plans to go into the broadband internet business. The move came following a decision earlier in 2021 to award Kramer Services Group of Weyerhaeuser (WI) $450,000 to study the issue and develop a plan for its implementation within the city. Kramer representative Brandon Wright said plans were for the system to be completely underground from one end of town to the other offering up to 1 gig of upload and download speed at prices between $75 and up depending on the speed the customer required. Wright said that if all went as planned the service might be available within a year or so. Who will build the system is unknown. However, there have already been indications that Kramer itself might bid the construction of the system. If successful, the City of Jasper would compete with AT&T, Sparklight and numerous wireless companies already providing the service.