Level of Government

The Federal Communications Commission committed over $12 million in a new funding round through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) Program, which provides digital services for students in communities across the country.

When scanning the Federal Communications Commission’s latest broadband maps for funding opportunities, city staff in Mesa, Arizona, struggled to find places that still needed access. Mesa’s diverse geography includes older neighborhoods that lacked modern internet services as well as new developments with high-speed fiber.

About $115 million in federal funds will spread broadband internet to rural areas around New Hampshire in the coming years, improving people's lives and boosting the state's economy. "By the time we get done with these resources (in late 2026), we do expect to have a very significant portion of the unserved and underserved locations in the state up to speed and online," Taylor Caswell, commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs. Caswell participated in an announcement of $50 million in federal funding to the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative.

The most rural parts of Mississippi are home to expansive agricultural lands with low residential density and until recent years, little incentive for broadband providers to build broadband infrastructure. Homes in the Mississippi Delta—the state’s most untenanted area—have typically used satellite service to make do, according to Sally Doty, a former state senator who was appointed as Director of the new Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) office in 2022. As the federal government’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding nears deployment, the BEAM of

Colorado repealed the referendum requirement for community broadband projects with the passage of Senate Bill 183. Support came from all sides, including the cable industry, which was neutral on the legislation. But there was another reason for the timing: federal broadband funding. The Colorado Broadband Office wasn’t sure if communities that hadn’t opted out would be eligible for a piece of the up to $1 billion in federal broadband funds Colorado could receive.

Governor Greg Gianforte (R-MT) has signed a privacy law that gives state residents new rights to wield control over data about them, including the right to reject some forms of online behavioral advertising. Senate Bill 384 provides that residents can opt out of the use of data linkable to them—including pseudonymous data, such as information stored on cookies—for targeted ads.

The final guidelines for the $20 million Missouri Cell Tower Grant Program have been released by the state’s Department of Economic Development (DED). The state will begin accepting applications in the funding program on Friday, May 26, 2023, and eligible entities have until July 25, 2023, to submit their applications. The program is being funded through the US Department of the Treasury Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF), which is part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) granted the Northern Mariana Islands its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) granted American Samoa its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) granted Guam its first “Internet for All” grants for deploying high-speed Internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Biden-Harris Administration’s Internet for All initiative.