Infrastructure

There are several states already estimating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant funding is not going to be enough money to reach all of their unserved and underserved areas. California, New Mexico, and Minnesota have estimated that BEAD will fall short. By the time the dust settles there will likely be more states. I’m not surprised by this. Just since the BEAD grant program was enacted by the Infrastructure Investment and Job Act (IIJA) in November 2021, there have been some significant cost increases for building broadband networks.

Ubiquity has launched open access networks in Carlsbad (CA) and Mesa (AZ). The company said the Mesa deployment is the nation’s first scaled fiber deployment, in which service provider tenants will use both lit and dark fiber to service business and residential customers. At the same time, the company announced new fiber “footprints” in Omaha (NE) and Council Bluffs (IA).

123NET and Allegan County (MI) have been awarded a $65 million project to construct an open-access, carrier-neutral fiber network. This county-wide broadband project will begin construction in mid-August 2023. The Allegan County Board of Commissioners and 123NET established a public-private partnership earlier in 2023 and applied for the Realizing Opportunity with Broadband Infrastructure Networks (ROBIN) grant together.

The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has released the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Initial Proposal Volume 2 for a public comment window.

On July 27, 2023, the U.S. Senate's Universal Service Fund (USF) Working Group invited public comment on the future of the USF with the stated goal of creating a bipartisan forum to guide education, awareness, and policymaking on the USF. The opportunity to weigh in with the senators has had me thinking about the importance of the USF for bringing affordable broadband infrastructure and services to millions of people around the country. So I'm taking this opportunity to share my thoughts on one of the most important tools in our national effort to reach truly universal broadband.

Digital inclusion took on new urgency in the U.S. when the COVID-19 pandemic thrust the issue into the spotlight, forcing schools, governments and businesses to expedite the move online. While broadband access is necessary to fully participate in society and the economy, it’s not available or affordable for many. The costs of having inadequate access—or no internet at all—can be high, limiting opportunities for success, educational achievement, positive health outcomes, social inclusion and civic engagement, according to the Digital Equity Act of 2021.

ConnectLA published the second volume of Louisiana’s draft Initial Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, and is asking for feedback from the public. Louisiana received more than $1.35 billion from the BEAD program for the construction of broadband infrastructure and the development of programs to eliminate the digital divide. Volume 1 focused on answering questions three, five, six and seven of the Initial Proposal, and Volume 2 will respond to the remaining 15 questions. The public comment period will close on Sept.

An unsurprising theme at Fiber Connect 2023 was executives from the fiber industry dragging its cable counterpart. For example, AT&T Fiber’s EVP Chris Sambar said, “don’t ask cable about symmetrical speeds, they don’t even know what that means.”  Derek Kelly, Lumos’ VP of market development, went as far as to say that “fiber is always the answer,” and suggested cable alternatives will not stand the test of time. But with all this talk about fiber versus cable, is the rivalry being overplayed?

Great Plains Communications is one of a growing number of tier 2 and 3 providers with long-term roots that has been acquired by an investment firm, a move that has helped the company expand rapidly.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded seven grants totaling $3,449,227.56 to seven Tribal entities as part of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP).  With funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, these new grants bring the total of the program to more than $1.79 billion awarded to 198 Tribal entities. Record investments in high-speed Internet deployment are a key part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.