Masha Abarinova

Maine isn’t nearly as far removed as say, Alaska, but it still must cope with broadband challenges stemming from its remote location. Andrew Butcher, president of the Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), named two key hurdles to broadband access in Maine: the sheer rurality of the state and, on a related note, community capacity to drive demand. “There’s a significant amount of space and not enough humans,” Butcher said. “We have the highest concentration of rural population in the country, meaning that the majority of people in the state live in very rural areas.” The state consists of many

Delaware has been vocal about its universal broadband efforts, as it hopes to become the first state to connect every resident and business with high-speed internet. But there is still work to be done before and after universal coverage happens. Delaware’s Chief Information Officer, Roddy Flynn, has announced that the state's broadband target is now 100/100 Megabits per second (Mbps) speeds for every citizen, up from a previous target of 25 Mbps. The state has set aside $100 million in funding to achieve this goal and plans to focus on building fiber optic infrastructure to support it.

Despite Minnesota being known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” it’s not short of geographical constraints when it comes to building broadband. Bree Maki, director of Minnesota’s Office of Broadband Development, said the state has some key deployment challenges, including weather and workforce constraints.

Bluepeak struck a franchise agreement with the City of Norman, Oklahoma, to bring fiber service to nearly 55,000 residents and businesses. The operator is pouring $55 million in capital into the buildout, marking Bluepeak’s largest investment in a single market outside of South Dakota. Asked what made Bluepeak select Norman as its next expansion target, an representative said proximity was a key draw.

Tucows’ Ting Internet has launched fiber service in select neighborhoods across Alexandria (VA), which the company said is now Ting’s largest market to date. Plans to construct the network were announced in spring 2022, with Tucows CEO Elliot Noss then noting Alexandria has over 90,000 serviceable addresses. Ting began construction in September 2022 and has broken down the project into five major areas.

Kentucky, which only established its broadband office in 2022, is putting in some hard, and in some cases unique, work to enhance internet access and prepare for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Meghan Sandfoss, executive director for Kentucky’s Office of Broadband Development, delved into some of the challenges the state has encountered.

Competition in the broadband industry continues to pick up, which means providers can’t solely rely on high speeds to stand out in the market, according to Calix CEO Michael Weening. Weening explained that due to the emergence of fiber, the difference between a cable company and a telephone company is really “no longer relevant.” “Everybody’s starting to think differently,” he said.

States are poised to play a critical role in the broadband funding landscape, but each state has a different approach to selecting broadband projects and administering funds.

Much of the hype around broadband funding is focused on the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, but money continues to flow from the Capital Projects Fund (CPF). To date, the US Treasury Department has awarded nearly $5 billion from the CPF across 33 states. That amount is almost half of the Treasury Department’s $10 billion allotment for the fund. States that have received funding thus far expect to connect 1.4 million households as a result. The CPF was created in March 2021, but Treasury only began approving state funding requests June 2022.

ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeye underscored the top-of-mind issues pervading the broadband industry. Unsurprisingly, the allocation of federal funds was front and center. First, ACA wants to make sure broadband funding is going where it’s supposed to be, as Spellmeyer noted the organization is “very concerned” about overbuilding using government support. The biggest pot of broadband money comes from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.