The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $49,112,883.26 in funds from the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 to tribes in two states. The awards will provide funds for high-speed internet infrastructure deployment projects through the Internet for All Initiative’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians of Mississippi and the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will receive $8,433,633.26 to install fiber to connect 2,190 unserved Native American households, 86 businesses, and 60 community anchor institutions with fiber internet service. The Osage Nation will receive $40,679.250.00 to install infrastructure for high-speed internet deployment in unserved areas, bringing new access to 3,158 households.  NTIA has now made a total of 53 awards totaling more than $339 million in funding through the TBCP.

Small broadband providers in the rural US are scrambling to meet a September 1 deadline to submit coverage data to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or risk being locked out of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (BEAD). FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel opened the agency's broadband data collection portal on June 30. The data requested will inform the first draft of a new federal broadband coverage map, which states will then have the opportunity to challenge with their own data. Ultimately, the final FCC map will be used to determine how much funding each state gets from BEAD, beyond its initial $100 million allocation. Providers that fail to submit data will be ineligible for BEAD grants. Rural and small-town telecommunication companies are concerned, as many providers struggling to meet the deadline. Smaller broadband providers feel overwhelmed, citing resource constraints and difficulty correcting woefully incorrect and crash-prone federal mapping software, called "The Fabric". Small and rural providers look to the FCC for a grace period for submitting data to avoid being locked out. Overall, with massive federal and state funding being pooled behind the BEAD program, small and rural broadband providers are scrambling to readily position themselves to improve FCC maps, and remain competitive in securing federal dollars. 

Wilmington (NC) City Council unanimously approved spending $2.5 million from federal COVID recovery funds on an employment program to connect residents to tech and digital industry jobs. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds will help provide digital skills training and job placement services, focusing on what the city calls “high opportunity, high need” census tracts around the city. Wilmington expects that over 17,000 jobs added in the region between 2020 and 2023 will require 'digital skills.' The program, called Digital Bridge Wilmington, is expected to launch early in 2023. While the initial funding will come from ARPA funds, the city expects Digitial Bridge to become self-sustaining over time; potential longer-term funding could come from corporate sponsorships, grants, and other federal funding. StepUp Wilmington, a non-profit employment service, will house the program and "will lean into its extensive local employer relationships and existing outreach channels." Cape Fear Collective will oversee the "Talent Pipeline Management," and will evaluate the services provided, as well as help with curriculum and program development. The Wireless Research Center of North Carolina will oversee the program, service delivery, and budgeting.