Universal Broadband

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is, in part, a $65 billion investment in closing the digital divide. To mark the law's second anniversary of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the White House released state-by-state fact sheets with information about how funding from the law is helping to deploy broadband networks where they haven't reached before while also connecting and keeping connected low-income households around the country.

The Federal Communications Commission is set to implement the first bipartisan broadband access antidiscrimination law of the digital age. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gave the FCC a clear mandate: to adopt rules within two years to prevent and eliminate digital discrimination of access to broadband services based on income level, race, ethnicity, color, religion, and national origin. While Congress explicitly directed the FCC to “prevent” and “eliminate” digital discrimination of access, the agency will ensure that process is fair and reasonable.

Where are we in terms of closing the seven gaps that we think of, or should think of, as the elements of the digital divide? The seven gaps are the rural access gap, the affordability gap, the operating gap of very high-cost rural providers, the adoption gap, the institutional gap, the cable/copper gap, and the utilization gap. We could be using the network to improve outcomes in education, health care, government services, public safety, carbon reduction, civic engagement, and other public purposes. But to do achieve those goals, we need to close all seven broadband gaps.

As Governors from across the country, we urge you to work collaboratively with the Biden Administration to ensure that a key tool in our joint efforts to bridge the digital divide—the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP)—receives additional funding. It is essential that people do not lose access to the internet that this vital program has allowed them to gain. There is broad agreement across the political spectrum that affordable high-speed internet is a necessity in today’s world, whether it’s for education, work or health care.

How can the Farm Bill help close the digital divide in rural America? There are a few areas that we could start with, and Sascha Meinrath, the Palmer Chair in telecommunications at Penn State University, says the first one won’t cost the government a dime. “The Farm Bill could include a mandate that says anytime a provider reports to a federal agency that they provide service at an address, they must provide that service within 30 days or get fined $10,000 a day until they do,” says Meinrath. In other words, force the ISPs to show verification that they are doing what they claim.

Look at funding resources on the webpages for Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) and you’ll find multiple funding programs, each with its own set of rules. 

On November 1, 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its "annual" inquiry into the state of broadband in the United States. The inquiry includes three broad questions: 1) What constitutes "broadband service" today 2) Is the U.S. achieving its universal broadband goals? 3) Is broadband being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion? The FCC is seeking public input on these questions through December 1. 

We write in response to your recently circulated Draft Order on “Digital Discrimination” that would turn section 60506 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into a sweeping mandate for heavy-handed Internet regulation and expose every nook and cranny of the broadband business to liability under a “disparate impact” standard. Your Draft Order, which largely follows a Biden administration diktat, will create crippling uncertainty for the U.S. broadband industry, chill broadband investment, and undermine Congress’s objective of promoting broadband access for all Americans.

We, the undersigned groups, write to emphasize the dire need for Congress to pass 6 billion dollars in supplemental funding to sustain the Affordable Connectivity Program (“ACP”) through the end of 2024. As of October 25, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration requested Congress to appropriate emergency funding for critical domestic issues, including $6 billion earmarked for ACP to ensure eligible households across the country remain connected online.

Minnesota's Office of Broadband Development announced the public comment period for the State's Draft Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Initial Proposal (Volumes I and II) for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Public comments on the BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 1 & 2 can be submitted online by completing this form. All comments must be received by 4:00 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, December 12, 2023.