Level of Government

The Federal Communications Commission authorize $791,604,299 through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) to six providers to fund new broadband deployments to over 350,000 estimated locations in 19 states. The top three states receiving funding include Illinois, $212 million, Arizona, $140 million, and Iowa, $113 million. This round of funding supports projects using a range of network technologies, including gigabit service hybrid fiber/fixed wireless deployments that will provide end-user locations with either fiber or fixed wireless network service using licensed spectrum.

Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch (R-IN) are leading the largest broadband investment in the state's history. Ball State University researchers found that thousands of homes across the state--urban and rural, low-income, and non-English speaking--experience the brunt of lacking access to broadband internet access. To combat this, Lt. Gov Suzanne Crouch created the Office of Broadband Opportunities in 2018 to identify needs and eliminate roadblocks to broadband deployment and digital literacy in the state.

At the annual National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) conference in Denver, Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) highlighted the progress Congress has made to expand access to high-speed, affordable broadband and close the digital divide. In 2021, Sen. Bennet introduced the bipartisan Broadband Reform and Investment to Drive Growth in the Economy (BRIDGE) Act with Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Angus King (I-MA), which was incorporated into the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to make the single largest investment in broadband in history.

Gov Roy Cooper (D-NC) announced that nearly 85,000 households and more than 2,400 businesses in 69 North Carolina counties are set to receive access to high-speed internet thanks to more than $206 million of Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology (GREAT) grants. This is the state’s largest round of GREAT grant awards to date. With this announcement, over $260 million in GREAT grants have been awarded to providers since July 2022.

In Texas, the Odessa City Council voted to allow the installation of infrastructure for citywide broadband internet under its streets by SiFi Networks in a deal worth more than $100 million. Under the terms of the 30-year contract elected officials agreed to, SiFi has access to all public rights-of-way to install, maintain and operate the fiber optic infrastructure necessary for an open access network.

Pershing County, Nevada is one of many rural communities throughout the US that will receive new, fiber optic, high-speed internet connections through the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) ReConnect Program.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $105,846,128.07 in grants awarded from the Internet for All initiative to five Tribal entities in Arizona. The grants will fund high-speed internet infrastructure deployment projects through the Internet for All Initiative’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program for Hopi Telecommunications, Inc., Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, San Carlos Apache Tribal Council/Triplet Mountain Communications, Inc., and White Mountain Apache Tribe.

With President Biden signing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law in November 2021 and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) subsequently releasing Notices of Funding Opportunity which outline the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Digital Equity Act (DEA), and Enabling Middle Mile Grant Infrastructure Program in May 2022, EducationSuperHighway and various organizations across Massachusetts are working to bring affordable broadband to the State. The organization has partnered with Springfield and Worcester (MA) Publ

In August, The Pew Charitable Trusts updated its tracker for states that have dedicated broadband offices, task forces, agencies or funds. With this most recent update, Pew determined that all 50 states administer active broadband programs. But how they manage those programs varies widely. Some states place their broadband office inside a business or economic agency, while others house it within their technology agency.

Connecticut's efforts to connect all residents to affordable, high-speed broadband get a $40 million boost when the US Department of Treasury approved the state's plan for using Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund support made possible by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Connecticut estimates that there are over 160,000 locations that still lack high-speed internet access in the state. In July 2021, current-Governor Ned Lamont signed