Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

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.

Representative April McClain Delaney (D-MD-06) led a letter with her House colleagues demanding that the Department of Commerce explain its continued withholding of appropriated funds that Congress explicitly authorized under its historic $65 billion-dollar internet initiative known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Prior to serving as a Member of Congress, Rep.

Astound Broadband walked away from about $165 million in federal broadband funding in Texas. The company said it did so because only part of its application was approved. An Astound spokesperson said that the company had submitted 33 applications during the state’s Broadband Equity, Access , and Deployment program bidding.

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.

On May 8, 2025, the largest investment to expand affordable broadband, digital skills training, and technical support in U.S. history experienced a major disruption when federal support for the Digital Equity Act was terminated. Overnight, the $2.75 billion bipartisan Act designed to strengthen families, communities, and our economy was disolved. This left state agencies and local grantees scrambling without anticipated funding, and millions of people without the immediate tools and skills to fully participate in our modern world.

States continue to make headway on the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, a $42 billion federal initiative to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.

The wait is finally over: with nearly $20 billion in federal funding flowing to states, millions of people will get the connectivity they need. From education to healthcare, the ripple effects on our economy and daily lives will be monumental. But there’s a catch. This investment only delivers for communities that are prepared to meet it. Over the past year, Connected Nation visited some of America’s most underserved communities—from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to far West Texas—to educate, listen, and share information. The specifics varied by geography, but the pattern did not.

The Texas Broadband Development Office announced that it had finalized its subgrantee agreements for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. The announcement said that the Lone Star State’s BEAD funds are being awarded to 17 providers and will connect more than 208,000 underserved and unserved locations.

Brightspeed announced a major milestone in its Ohio fiber expansion: the company’s statewide fiber network build is nearly 65% complete. The company is making significant strides in its effort to bring reliable, future‑ready connectivity to more communities across the state. Brightspeed Fiber Internet is now available to more than 350,000 homes and businesses across Ohio, delivering 100% fiber-to-the-home connectivity with multi-gig-speed internet service.

One year ago, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick kicked off the Trump administration’s fundamental restructuring of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Speaking before Congress, Sec. Lutnick touted the new direction as cost-cutting and “tech-neutral” and promised to expedite the program so that all funds would be distributed by the end of 2025. Yet today, five months after Sec.