Arkansas State Broadband Office

Arkansas has shown what is possible when broadband policy is executed with discipline. Through a highly competitive process, our state secured deployment commitments for each of its 79,000 unserved locations using just over $300 million of its $1 billion BEAD allocation.

For years, the conversation around broadband has focused on access—getting high-speed internet into the places that have gone without it for far too long. That work is finally happening at scale. Through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, states like Arkansas are making a once-in-a-generation investment to close the digital divide. In Arkansas alone, more than $1 billion in funding will bring high-speed internet access to more than 79,000 homes and businesses, impacting nearly 200,000 Arkansans. That is a major step forward.

The Arkansas State Broadband Office (ASBO) recently launched its Digital Skills and Opportunity Survey as part of the state’s larger planning process to better understand the complexities of the digital divide.

The Arkansas Department of Commerce announced on Feb.