The Senate infrastructure bill includes a package of digital initiatives that together amount to the largest one-time investment in broadband in US history, totaling $65 billion. But the money still may fall short of President Biden’s ambitious goal of ensuring every American has access to high-speed Internet, as Democrats initially stated $100 billion might be needed to address the country’s digital infrastructure, and consumer advocates have warned that the package particularly does not go far enough to address long-running competition concerns.An earlier bipartisan broadband bill would have overturned state laws that make it illegal to build municipal networks, which advocates say result in greater competition and lower prices for consumers. But that language was not included in the latest version of the infrastructure plan.

The omission was one of the “most disappointing” in the legislation, said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Senior Counselor at the Benton Institute for Broadband and Society. He also lamented that the minimum Internet speed requirements for the networks were slower than what Democrats initially proposed. They wanted download and upload speeds of 100 megabits per second, but the bill only requires upload speeds of 20 Mbps, which experts have warned are not speedy enough for households increasingly reliant on video conferencing. Despite these shortcomings, advocates said they were largely pleased with the deal. “There will have to be more in the future,” said Gigi Sohn, Benton Senior Fellow and Public Advocate. “It’s not the end point, but it’s a really strong beginning.”

Acknowledging that there’s no closing the digital divide without anchors, the Senate infrastructure bill's broadband component adopts a broad definition of “community anchor institution” that includes public housing authorities, healthcare providers, and other community support organizations – anchors that vulnerable populations depend upon the most. Yet when doling out the funding, the program relegates anchors to third priority, meaning that funds may be completely awarded to connect unserved and underserved households before any funding goes to anchor institution connectivity. The language suggests that awardees cannot connect anchors until after all the homes are served, which could be never. This siloed approach to funding ignores the network economics: Placing anchors and households on the same shared network helps to lower the costs for everyone. Also worthy of scrutiny are the Universal Service Fund provision – on which many anchor institutions depend – and the pot of money for middle-mile projects, which excludes direct connections to anchor institutions and therefore reduces the cost efficacy of these networks. On the positive side, anchor institutions are eligible to receive funding allocated to the Digital Equity Act because of the fabulous work they do to provide digital literacy training and set up wireless community networks. Here, the legislation specifically recognizes anchor institutions as invaluable partners for digital inclusion.

[John Windhausen is the Executive Director of the SHLB Coalition.]

The telecommunications industry rejoiced when the Federal Communications Commission announced it was prepared to release the first batch of funding — some $311 million — from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Phase I auction. But in the same breath, the agency revealed a long list of winning bidders who have already defaulted on their obligations and hinted many more could soon follow suit. More than 60 bidding entities have defaulted on winning bids totaling $78,533,385.30, covering nearly 11,000 census blocks. Default status means RDOF support “will not be authorized for these winning bids,” according to the FCC. RDOF funds that are not distributed “remain in the Universal Service Fund for later distribution through future funding mechanisms,” although it is unsure whether they’d be rolled over into the RDOF Phase II auction. The initial default total is just a small fraction of the $9.2 billion that was awarded in the Phase I auction, which covered nearly 787,000 eligible census blocks. But the amount left on the table could still increase substantially as the FCC continues to vet the applications of winning bidders.

Governments can use American Rescue Plan Act funding to pay for broadband infrastructure. Experts say local governments are in the best position to know what initiatives will work to connect residents. Because barriers to broadband access vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood and household to household, local governments are best positioned to figure out what assistance residents need in order to log on. A number of initiatives can help cities interested in using the federal dollars on broadband, including:

• Assessments of connectivity gaps and connection speeds in communities, as well as digital equity assessments;
• Coordination between local governments and internet service providers to reduce locally imposed barriers;
• Collaboration between state broadband offices and smaller localities to provide the resources localities need to successfully implement broadband initiatives, and
• Defined minimum standards for broadband speeds and established dig once policies.

The economic benefits of high-speed internet go beyond access and expansion, as examined by researchers from the University of Missouri Extension in their new study ‘The Economic Benefits of Expanding Broadband in Selected Missouri Counties.’ The study focused on three rural areas: Bollinger County has the lowest broadband adoption rate in the state; Henry County's rate is about average; and Nodaway County is above average. It found that increased broadband adoption drives long-term economic gains, including the following:

• Broadband investment: Installing broadband infrastructure to previously unserved households will generate construction-related economic gains over several years.
• Telemedicine: Virtual health care saves households money by reducing visits to the emergency room and doctor’s office. It also reduces lost income associated with travel and missed work.
• Education productivity: Access to online resources increases teacher productivity.
• Income: Broadband technology enables more effective job matching, online training, access to goods and services, and it improves productivity that can raise household and farm incomes.
• Employment: Community job growth, especially in knowledge-intensive services, leads to entrepreneurial, investment, and productivity gains.

The University of Missouri Extension's Broadband Initiative team has a guide to help local officials come up with plans to become more digitally connected. The Missouri Department of Economic Development is calling on broadband providers in the state to submit projects as part of an application for up to $30 million in assistance from the federal government.

The US Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2.4 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to Ann Arbor SPARK, Ann Arbor (MI), to construct 20 miles of underground fiber optic cable in the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to attract and retain high-tech businesses, specifically in the growing mobility sector. This EDA grant, to be matched with $600,000 in local funds, is expected to create 67 jobs and generate $35.6 million in private investment. “Investing in high-speed internet broadband will provide countless opportunities for our small businesses to grow, and get Michigan back to work,” said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “Access to high-speed internet is essential for businesses to thrive, and this investment will create jobs and grow Michigan’s economy. I am grateful to President Biden and Secretary Raimondo for their dedication to Michigan workers.”

Both T-Mobile and Verizon appear to have excellent timing in regard to their fixed wireless access (FWA) initiatives. They’re advancing FWA right when the US government is poised to spend billions to close the digital divide in America following the pandemic. In terms of the types of communities that are ripe for FWA, T-Mobile is targeting underserved areas of rural America, remote areas with challenging geographies, and lower-income neighborhoods in urban and suburban areas. “Really, this opportunity is kind of both on the access side as well as the affordability side,” said Kaley Gagnon, VP of emerging products at T-Mobile. She noted that fixed wireless deployments are relatively quick and inexpensive compared to wired broadband deployments. Verizon announced on August 5 that its 5G Business Internet, which is an FWA offering, is now available in parts of 47 cities across the US. They stated that the upcoming deployment of Verizon’s new C-band spectrum will be a major catalyst for 5G fixed-wireless growth.