Karl Bode

For the better part of a generation, low-income and minority US communities have struggled to gain access to affordable broadband.

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates that the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) will run out of money in 2024.

City officials in Syracuse (NY) have formally approved a new project to provide heavily discounted wireless broadband to low-income city residents. The plan is being made possible courtesy of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), $123 million of which has been doled out to Syracuse city leaders for various urban improvement efforts. After issuing a request for proposals (RFP) in 2022, Syracuse officials say they’ve selected Community Broadband Networks FLX to help build the fledgling, city-owned network.

West Des Moines (IA) is making steady progress on a $60 million open-access fiber-optic conduit system to expedite the delivery of affordable fiber citywide. And they’re doing it with the help of Google Fiber. West Des Moines is a suburb of Des Moines with a population of 67,000. Like so many US communities, locals have long complained of high broadband prices, spotty coverage, and terrible customer service by the area’s entrenched local monopolies.

When it comes to affordable broadband, Vermont has always been a trailblazer.

Millions of dollars later, LinkNYC still hasn’t fixed the city’s stubborn digital divide or the privacy issues raised half a decade ago. LinkNYC, unveiled in 2014, was an ambitious plan to replace the city’s dated pay phones with “information kiosks” providing free public Wi-Fi, phone calls, device charging, and a tablet for access to city services, maps, and directions.

This report examines data from the US and around the world to explore the current state of broadband in America, and the potential for an open access fiber model to create robust competition and bring about more widespread access, better service, and lower prices.

Despite creating the predecessor of the modern internet, US broadband access has remained mired in mediocrity for decades, with Americans paying some of the highest prices in the developed world for spotty, slow connections and abysmal customer support.

The Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) Reverse Auction was completed a little more than a year ago to much fanfare and spilled ink, and though we’ve seen irregular updates over the last twelve months, we thought it worth the time to round up what we know so far in an effort to see where we’re at and determine what is likely to come. The RDOF was built to award up to $20.4 billion in grants over 10 years using competitive reverse auctions generally won by the lowest bidder.

Over 230 communities have applied for National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Broadband Infrastructure Program grants. But community leaders increasingly say they’re facing costly, unnecessary challenges from incumbent broadband providers, who are exploiting unreliable US broadband maps to overstate existing coverage and defend the status quo.