Louisiana

Louisiana has reached another significant milestone in its effort to deliver high-speed internet access across the state by completing National Environmental Policy Act review for broadband projects covering nearly 25,000 serviceable locations.

March 29 marked five years in Louisiana’s effort to close the digital divide. In 2021, more than 375,000 households, small businesses, and essential community institutions such as hospitals, libraries, and schools lacked reliable internet service, affecting more than one in four Louisianans. As executive director of the Louisiana State Broadband Office, I am proud to work with a small but highly effective team united by a single mission: connecting every community in our state to reliable, affordable, high-speed internet.

LaSalle Parish (LA) continues to gain reliable broadband access across the parish as another expansion project provides reliable, high-speed internet to hundreds of locations. Delivered by Brightspeed, the nation’s third-largest fiber builder, the expansion brings reliable broadband access to 180 households and 28 businesses, expanding digital infrastructure in areas that previously lacked dependable connectivity.

Louisiana has signed a grant agreement with SpaceX’s Starlink to expand broadband access through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, marking another major step toward achieving universal access. This agreement allows construction to begin on projects that will deliver access to 10,635 locations by the end of the summer. The project covers locations in over 50 parishes statewide, moving Louisiana closer to full coverage while advancing the state’s commitment to using taxpayer dollars effectively to deliver results.

A broadband expansion project in Beauregard Parish adds to the growing number of Louisiana communities gaining access to reliable, high-speed internet, advancing the state's goal of full connectivity.

Louisiana state and local leaders joined ConnectLA and Optimum to announce the completion of a broadband expansion project in Natchitoches Parish, bringing dependable access to hundreds of locations across the parish. The expansion in Natchitoches Parish brings broadband access to 171 households and 24 businesses, expanding digital infrastructure in communities that previously lacked dependable connectivity. This project was delivered by Optimum and funded through the Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities 1.0 program, administered

ConnectLA announced the launch of the ÉTOUFFÉE program and the opening of a grant application portal, providing eligible organizations serving Louisiana communities with access to digital devices and digital skills resources. The program is designed to equip organizations with technology resources that support workforce development, education and health-related services in communities across the state.

May 8 was supposed to be a ribbon cutting. Delta Interfaith—a church-based community organizing group—had spent months planning an event to mark fiber reaching Lake Providence, the main town in East Carroll Parish. Jonathan Chambers, CEO at rural operator Conexon Connect, was due to come with a schedule in hand for building into neighborhoods. Veneeth Iyengar, head of Louisiana’s broadband office would be there too.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program “Benefit of the Bargain” round, sold as “technology neutral” and laser-focused on lowering costs, was neither a benefit nor a bargain for Lake Providence, the poorest parish in Louisiana. A $6 million fiber award became a $150,000 award to satellite Internet provider Starlink. A service that costs $80 a month for the “lite” tier and $120 for standard is a non-starter in a town where nearly half of its residents live below the poverty line.

On May 1, 2026, Nextlink Internet activated the first tower in the nation funded by the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The site is located in southern Bienville Parish (LA), bringing service to 104 BEAD locations in Bossier Parish. It is delivering up to gigabit-speed internet to homes and businesses across northwest Louisiana via fixed wireless infrastructure.