Infrastructure

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a workshop in Gillette, WY, on the $48 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding to give everyone in the country internet access. The idea is to give local governments money to expand broadband services in so-called “digital deserts” where high-speed, reliable internet isn’t available. The funding comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The workshop is meant to give Wyoming leaders a heads-up on how to prepare for the funding.

Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel recently proposed that the FCC adopt new standards for what qualifies as broadband internet access service and for determining whether broadband deployment is sufficient to meet American needs. Chairwoman Rosenworcel is proposing to raise the minimum speed for broadband to 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream. This would be consistent with the standard adopted in the most recent FCC universal service auction, which required participants to offer the same downstream and upstream speeds.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $2.5 million grant to Lafayette City (LA) Parish Consolidated Government, doing business as LUS Fiber, to establish high-speed internet connectivity in support of business and job growth in Jennings (LA). This grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan. This project will construct ten miles of conduit and fiber optic cable to connect the medical and business district in Jennings.

The Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.8 million grant to the city of Waterloo (IA) to expand internet connectivity for the city’s business corridor. This grant is funded by the American Rescue Plan. This project will construct a middle mile fiber network, supporting business growth, telemedicine connectivity, and virtual educational opportunities.

This protest challenges the award of a contract to provide a massive data set for the Government to use in determining which structures in the United States can have broadband internet service installed. Congress has tied more than $40 billion of infrastructure funding to availability maps that the Federal Communications Commission must produce using the data set provided under this contract. LightBox Parent, L.P.

Gigabit broadband service is coming to communities and rural areas in 11 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin through a partnership by Nextlink and Tarana. They expect to expand service to hundreds of rural counties over the next several years, covering over a quarter million households. Part of this ties back to the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) licenses Nextlink picked up at auction in 2020.

Broadband deserts beget population deserts as many in rural areas seek greener, high-speed broadband pastures. Counties with poor broadband are seeing people move away to get better jobs or to get broadband for their kids. Real estate agents are reporting that it’s extremely difficult to sell a home that has no broadband option. Several studies have shown that students that grow up without home broadband don’t perform nearly as well as students with broadband. There are hundreds of rural counties working hard to get fiber broadband with the hope of stemming the population loss.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded a $29.3 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grant to the Native Village of Port Lions, Alaska. This grant will fund a new fiber-optic high-speed Internet network capable of Gigabit speeds. The proposed project will directly connect 930 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet as well as businesses and anchor institutions. NTIA has now made 70 awards totaling $755,737,402.24 in funding through the TBCP.

Milan Eaton, director of the E-Rate program for the Arizona Department of Education, uses the federal program to install high-speed internet infrastructure in schools in remote areas across AZ. According to the White House, 14% of Arizonans live in areas with no broadband infrastructure at minimally acceptable speeds.

In a 2021 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that some small businesses lack access to broadband, but may benefit from federal programs that fund deployment in rural areas. Small businesses can likely reap the benefits of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) and the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service's (RUS) funding to expand broadband deployment.