Biden Administration’s $42 Billion Broadband Initiative Launches

Today, President Joe Biden is set to reveal the distribution plan for $42 billion in funding aimed at enhancing broadband internet access. The investment, which was made possible by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, seeks to provide high-speed internet access to all Americans by 2030.

Last year, the White House announced an initiative to allocate at least $100 million to participating states through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The rest of the funding was on hold until the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) produced a more detailed coverage map showing which homes and businesses lacked high-speed Internet access. Funding is distributed based on the map.

The FCC released a first draft of the revised map, which includes more detailed information, in November. Still, politicians on both sides of the aisle were concerned about millions of businesses and homes being left out and urged the White House to delay broadband funding efforts until the issues are resolved.

After receiving feedback from the public and states, the FCC released an updated version in May. According to The Washington Post, the updated map corrected about 4 million errors, which left about half a million homes, businesses and other places without Internet access. Overall, the FCC found that more than 8.3 million homes and businesses do not have access to high-speed Internet.

States will first focus on bringing broadband to places where there is no access at all. If they have extra funding, they can use it to improve their low-speed internet connection.

It can take up to two years before the government distributes all the funding. States will present their initial plans later this year, unlocking a fifth of the funding, according to Reuters. The rest of the $42 billion will be released after states finalize their plans to invest the funds.

Many places that lack broadband access are in rural areas. In general, large service providers have avoided deploying broadband in these areas due to their smaller population and high infrastructure installation costs.