President Joe Biden today announced how $42 billion in funding to bolster broadband internet access will be allocated. The investment, which was funded by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, aims to give all Americans access to high-speed internet by 2030.
Texas is getting the largest slice of funding with $3.3 billion. Eighteen other states are receiving over $1 billion, including Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington. Every state is getting at least $107 million. Several US territories are included in the program, with $27 million allocated to the US Virgin Islands receiving and $334 million earmarked for Puerto Rico.
"With these allocations and other Biden administration investments, all 50 states, DC and the territories now have the resources to connect every resident and small business to reliable, affordable high-speed internet by 2030," the White House said in a statement.
Last year, the White House announced an initiative that would allocate at least $100 million to each state through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The remainder of the funding was on hold until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) drew up a more detailed coverage map showing which homes and businesses lacked high-speed internet access. The funding will be allocated based on the map.
The FCC released its first draft of the overhauled map, which incorporates more granular data, in November. Still, politicians on both sides of the aisle were concerned it left out millions of businesses and homes and urged the White House to delay the broadband funding efforts until issues were resolved.
After taking feedback from the public and states, the FCC unveiled an updated version in May. According to The Washington Post, the updated map addressed around 4 million mistakes, resulting in approximately half a million more homes, businesses and other locations without any internet access being identified. In all, the FCC determined that more than 8.3 million homes and businesses lack access to high-speed internet.
States will first focus on bringing broadband to locations that have no access at all. If they have any funding left over, they can use it to improve internet access for those with slow speeds.
It could take up to two years for the government to dole out all the funding. States, Washington DC and other territories will have until the end of the year to submit their initial proposals for how to run their grant programs. Once the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration approves the initial plans, states will be able to request access to at least 20 percent of their allocation. However, they might not obtain access to all of their funds until the plans are finalized, which may take until 2025, according to Reuters.
Many of the locations that lack broadband access are in rural areas. By and large, major providers have shied away from rolling out broadband in these locales due to their smaller populations and the high cost of installing infrastructure.
Update 6/26 12:06PM ET: Added details about the funding
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-biden-administrations-42-billion-broadband-program-is-finally-getting-underway-143625721.html?src=rss
