US Government Announces $42 Billion Fund for Universal Access to High-Speed Broadband

[T0@st]

The US government yesterday revealed its $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding program that will aim to deliver reliable, affordable high-speed internet to everyone in the nation by 2030—including all fifty states and US territories. Evidently parts of the country are lacking in terms of online access infrastructure—the briefing room statement outlines some of these issues: "High-speed internet is no longer a luxury - it is necessary for Americans to do their jobs, to participate equally in school, access health care, and to stay connected with family and friends. Yet, more than 8.5 million households and small businesses are in areas where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure, and millions more struggle with limited or unreliable internet options."

The initiative is said to be "the largest internet funding announcement in history," and the White House is readying packages valued from $27 million to $3.3 billion—White House said that it'll award sums of (starting at) $27 million going up to a maximum $3.3 billion, based on the required level of upgrades for a given state/territory. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communication and Information Alan Davidson stated: "This is a watershed moment for millions of people across America who lack access to a high-speed Internet connection. Access to Internet service is necessary for work, education, healthcare, and more...States can now plan their Internet access grant programs with confidence and engage with communities to ensure this money is spent where it is most needed."




The BEAD funding will be used to deploy or upgrade broadband networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service. Once deployment goals are met, any remaining funding can be used to pursue eligible access-, adoption-, and equity-related uses.

States, D.C., and territories ("Eligible Entities") will receive their formal notice of allocation on June 30, 2023. Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Eligible Entities have 180 days from the date of that formal notice to submit their Initial Proposals describing how they propose to run their grant programs. Eligible Entities can begin submitting their Initial Proposals starting July 1, 2023. Once NTIA approves an Initial Proposal, which will occur on a rolling basis, Eligible Entities will be permitted to request access to at least 20 percent of their allocated funds.

Details related to the allocation for the states, D.C., and territories are available on InternetForAll.Gov.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Leiesoldat]

So based on my experience with funding timelines in the government sphere, we're looking at 3 to 5 years from now before seeing any tangible installations happen.

 

[Solaris17]

So based on my experience with funding timelines in the government sphere, we're looking at 3 to 5 years from now before seeing any tangible installations happen.

That’s generous because by “tangible installations” I am willing to bet it ends up being maybe 10s of k at most. Given the historic short fallings of ISPs to do what they are supposed to with the money of past grants local or higher are anything to go by.

no imo the majority of the 8.x million cited to not have access will continue not too.

 

[mrnagant]

Technically doesn't Starlink satisfy this requirement for universal access? All these ground based ISPs are still going to like, not compete with each other. Sure, they might expand, but they won't lay down fiber over top of each other, and they will likely even try to avoid areas that co-ops are working to service as they tend to have better pricing and no service contracts.

The "too expensive to service" is also pretty rubbish. There are a number of co-ops around my area that are deploying FTTH in low populated areas and are being profitable doing it. Yes it isn't a lot of money, but they are still in the black and paying their loans and bonds. The issue with big companies like Comcast and AT&T is that they focus on short term gains. They won't do anything unless they have a 3yr ROI. Pretty common in large companies to ignore doing something if the ROI is any longer than that. What they will likely do is collect the money that they can, let it collect interest for as long as possible and at last minute deploy to meet the minimum requirements. Will likely be the highest populated areas to meet the minimum requirements.

I'd expect their to still be gaps. Still have at least at least 5 or 6 million that don't have any service at all (outside Starlink and maybe even cellular).

 

[WorringlyIndifferent]

American ISPs literally went through this exact same funding scheme, what, 20 years ago? And they pocketed nearly all the money, did almost nothing to improve their infrastructure, and there are still literally millions of people who have internet connections worse than what's available in 3rd world countries (and for significantly lower prices too). And I'm not out in the sticks - I'm in the MIDDLE of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it's still well over $100/month to get a gigabit connection. Even then, it's not worth it, because it isn't even a real gigabit connection. It's 940 down and 35 up, because Cox would sooner shoot their CEO in the leg than put down fiber where they don't have competition. Oh, where do they have competition? Nowhere, because Cox and CenturyLink deliberately and precisely set their service areas to not overlap. Out of a metro area of ~7 million people, there are maybe 4 neighborhoods I'm aware of where the two ISPs actually overlap.

And even if the internet were fast, it still wouldn't matter because in my neighborhood it goes out for a few seconds to a few minutes, almost every day, usually choosing the most inconvenient time to do so. Again, I'm not out in the boonies. I am surrounded by freeways on all 4 sides. I am firmly in the middle of this city, but I have an internet connection like I'm stuck in 2003.

Between American ISPs and banks (possibly the most evil companies on earth), I don't know if I'd be able to say I hate banks more. I really, really hate ISPs. I can't wait for Starlink and Verizon/AT&T home 5g to absolutely demolish these corrupt, greedy, lying crooks. And they have been, but it's been a frustratingly slow experience. The only major change I've noticed is that my pathetic rate plan (250 down, 10 up) used to be something like $90 a month and has since dropped to $60, which coincided exactly with Verizon announcing that home 5g was available in my area. Glad to see them in fear, but it's still not enough.

 

[dir_d]

American ISPs literally went through this exact same funding scheme, what, 20 years ago? And they pocketed nearly all the money, did almost nothing to improve their infrastructure, and there are still literally millions of people who have internet connections worse than what's available in 3rd world countries (and for significantly lower prices too). And I'm not out in the sticks - I'm in the MIDDLE of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it's still well over $100/month to get a gigabit connection. Even then, it's not worth it, because it isn't even a real gigabit connection. It's 940 down and 35 up, because Cox would sooner shoot their CEO in the leg than put down fiber where they don't have competition. Oh, where do they have competition? Nowhere, because Cox and CenturyLink deliberately and precisely set their service areas to not overlap. Out of a metro area of ~7 million people, there are maybe 4 neighborhoods I'm aware of where the two ISPs actually overlap.

You are 100% correct i remember when Comcast pocketed all the money and just left all the fiber they had run before they received the money lay dark.

The only thing that is good here where i live is that Century Link(Lumen now) and Comcast compete all the time. I have FTTH with Century Link 1gig up and down for $75 no caps.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

American ISPs literally went through this exact same funding scheme, what, 20 years ago? And they pocketed nearly all the money, did almost nothing to improve their infrastructure, and there are still literally millions of people who have internet connections worse than what's available in 3rd world countries (and for significantly lower prices too). And I'm not out in the sticks - I'm in the MIDDLE of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it's still well over $100/month to get a gigabit connection. Even then, it's not worth it, because it isn't even a real gigabit connection. It's 940 down and 35 up, because Cox would sooner shoot their CEO in the leg than put down fiber where they don't have competition. Oh, where do they have competition? Nowhere, because Cox and CenturyLink deliberately and precisely set their service areas to not overlap. Out of a metro area of ~7 million people, there are maybe 4 neighborhoods I'm aware of where the two ISPs actually overlap.

And even if the internet were fast, it still wouldn't matter because in my neighborhood it goes out for a few seconds to a few minutes, almost every day, usually choosing the most inconvenient time to do so. Again, I'm not out in the boonies. I am surrounded by freeways on all 4 sides. I am firmly in the middle of this city, but I have an internet connection like I'm stuck in 2003.

Between American ISPs and banks (possibly the most evil companies on earth), I don't know if I'd be able to say I hate banks more. I really, really hate ISPs. I can't wait for Starlink and Verizon/AT&T home 5g to absolutely demolish these corrupt, greedy, lying crooks. And they have been, but it's been a frustratingly slow experience. The only major change I've noticed is that my pathetic rate plan (250 down, 10 up) used to be something like $90 a month and has since dropped to $60, which coincided exactly with Verizon announcing that home 5g was available in my area. Glad to see them in fear, but it's still not enough.

I seem to remember similar funding bills under Trump. Wasn't that the point of the reclassifying "high speed" internet as 25 Mbps instead of 10, and these companies could get grants for pushing out 25 Mbps speed? Could have sworn Obama had one too, when ajit pai was appointed. Or maybe that was under bush, IDK I was a kid back then.

They do these bills all the time, but nothing ever comes form them, except some c-suites getting new yachts. There is just 0 oversight to ensure these companies actually do their jobs.

Technically doesn't Starlink satisfy this requirement for universal access? All these ground based ISPs are still going to like, not compete with each other. Sure, they might expand, but they won't lay down fiber over top of each other, and they will likely even try to avoid areas that co-ops are working to service as they tend to have better pricing and no service contracts.

The "too expensive to service" is also pretty rubbish. There are a number of co-ops around my area that are deploying FTTH in low populated areas and are being profitable doing it. Yes it isn't a lot of money, but they are still in the black and paying their loans and bonds. The issue with big companies like Comcast and AT&T is that they focus on short term gains. They won't do anything unless they have a 3yr ROI. Pretty common in large companies to ignore doing something if the ROI is any longer than that. What they will likely do is collect the money that they can, let it collect interest for as long as possible and at last minute deploy to meet the minimum requirements. Will likely be the highest populated areas to meet the minimum requirements.

I'd expect their to still be gaps. Still have at least at least 5 or 6 million that don't have any service at all (outside Starlink and maybe even cellular).

There's several Co-OPs around me too, doing the same thing. Issue is, they never manage to get into the cities, only the surrounding farm areas. The small towns are left hung out to dry due to exclusivity deals with cable companies.

You are 100% correct i remember when Comcast pocketed all the money and just left all the fiber they had run before they received the money lay dark.

The only thing that is good here where i live is that Century Link(Lumen now) and Comcast compete all the time. I have FTTH with Century Link 1gig up and down for $75 no caps.

I was so happy when ATT rolled out fiber in my city this year. Came as a total surprise.

My first indication? My cable bill went from $170 to $100, and I got a notice about free equipment upgrades.

Competition is a wonderful thing.

 

[Cergy]

American ISPs literally went through this exact same funding scheme, what, 20 years ago? And they pocketed nearly all the money, did almost nothing to improve their infrastructure, and there are still literally millions of people who have internet connections worse than what's available in 3rd world countries (and for significantly lower prices too). And I'm not out in the sticks - I'm in the MIDDLE of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, and it's still well over $100/month to get a gigabit connection. Even then, it's not worth it, because it isn't even a real gigabit connection. It's 940 down and 35 up, because Cox would sooner shoot their CEO in the leg than put down fiber where they don't have competition. Oh, where do they have competition? Nowhere, because Cox and CenturyLink deliberately and precisely set their service areas to not overlap. Out of a metro area of ~7 million people, there are maybe 4 neighborhoods I'm aware of where the two ISPs actually overlap.

And even if the internet were fast, it still wouldn't matter because in my neighborhood it goes out for a few seconds to a few minutes, almost every day, usually choosing the most inconvenient time to do so. Again, I'm not out in the boonies. I am surrounded by freeways on all 4 sides. I am firmly in the middle of this city, but I have an internet connection like I'm stuck in 2003.

Between American ISPs and banks (possibly the most evil companies on earth), I don't know if I'd be able to say I hate banks more. I really, really hate ISPs. I can't wait for Starlink and Verizon/AT&T home 5g to absolutely demolish these corrupt, greedy, lying crooks. And they have been, but it's been a frustratingly slow experience. The only major change I've noticed is that my pathetic rate plan (250 down, 10 up) used to be something like $90 a month and has since dropped to $60, which coincided exactly with Verizon announcing that home 5g was available in my area. Glad to see them in fear, but it's still not enough.

I agree that $100 is expensive. But 940/35 is FAST for a lot of people in the world. I pay about $40, but for 5/1 mbits. And a member of my family gets 1/1 for the same price.

By the way, you say you're stuck in 2003 but I'm quite sure than most people in the world were still on 56k not 1 gigabits. If I remember correctly I had 1mbits in the early 2000s, that was fastest consumer speed available here.

 

[sam_86314]

What's their definition of "high speed broadband"? 1Gb/s? 100Mb/s? 8Mb/s?

At least in my area, we have a whopping two providers that aren't WWAN or satellite. One of then is DSL that probably can't even do 100Mb/s, and the other is a horribly unreliable cable service that almost never reaches their advertised speeds.

My family currently pays just under $100 a month for "500/50", which is more like 420/37, and a 1.2TB data cap if I'm not mistaken.

Apparently they also do fiber, but conveniently they stopped running fiber about a block away from my house, so who knows when or if we'll get it.

 

[Easo]

As already said by other posts - this is pretty much repeat of what USA already did once, with very discutable results.
I almost ready to bet that this will also get politicized, just like everything else in the States now is.

 

[mrnagant]

What's their definition of "high speed broadband"? 1Gb/s? 100Mb/s? 8Mb/s?

At least in my area, we have a whopping two providers that aren't WWAN or satellite. One of then is DSL that probably can't even do 100Mb/s, and the other is a horribly unreliable cable service that almost never reaches their advertised speeds.

My family currently pays just under $100 a month for "500/50", which is more like 420/37, and a 1.2TB data cap if I'm not mistaken.

Apparently they also do fiber, but conveniently they stopped running fiber about a block away from my house, so who knows when or if we'll get it.

Could be capacity issues on the line if those speedtests are over wire. If they don't already, I would look at upgrading to a 24x8 or 32x8 modem. Gives you access to more channels and hopefully hit your target advertised speed.

 

[Solaris17]

What's their definition of "high speed broadband"? 1Gb/s? 100Mb/s? 8Mb/s?

The FCC classifies "broadband" as 25mb/s

 

[R-T-B]

Could have sworn Obama had one too, when ajit pai was appointed.

It was under Trump that Ajit Pai was appointed, not Obama. And Ajit did a lot of damage to this cause honestly.

As already said by other posts - this is pretty much repeat of what USA already did once, with very discutable results.
I almost ready to bet that this will also get politicized, just like everything else in the States now is.

Sadly you probably aren't wrong, but that's also not an excuse to do nothing and accept the status quo.

 

[Prima.Vera]

There you go. 1Gbps unlimited and unrestricted Internet for 9$ (taxes included) from over a decade now. And ZERO government support to the IPS providers.

Internet - Abonamente de internet fix - internet prin fibra optica | Digi Romania S.A.

Ia-ti acum internet fix prin fibra optica de la Digi(RCS & RDS)! Fa-ti acum abonament de internet fix la preturi avantajoase!

www.digi.ro

 

[Kapone33]

Streaming services are acquiring Sports contracts. I will just use my Country as an example.

DAZN: NFL, All European Cups, MLB

FUBO: Premier league

BEIN: La Liga, Legue 1

PRIME: Thursday Night Football

Sports needs a certain speed to be enjoyed while streaming.

I actually work for a Tel co and we are trying to lay Fibre across Canada but it is not cheap and Governments should help with projects that are for the benefit of everyone, Politically if the current Administration can remain in Power the reality of this will be more realized.

 

[Cergy]

There you go. 1Gbps unlimited and unrestricted Internet for 9$ (taxes included) from over a decade now. And ZERO government support to the IPS providers.

Internet - Abonamente de internet fix - internet prin fibra optica | Digi Romania S.A.

Ia-ti acum internet fix prin fibra optica de la Digi(RCS & RDS)! Fa-ti acum abonament de internet fix la preturi avantajoase!

www.digi.ro

Yes, but to be fair you have to compare apples to apples, GDP per capita:

Romania: $14 858
USA: $70 200

 

[claes]

Also the favorable legislation in the EU and the relative size and population densities of NA vs the EU. More, rural areas in the EU actually have less access to high speed Internet than the US.

 

[Easo]

Sadly you probably aren't wrong, but that's also not an excuse to do nothing and accept the status quo.

Too much money to not have any impact, so yes, there will be improvements regardless.

 

[Scrizz]

Too much money to not have any impact, so yes, there will be improvements regardless.

you guys would be surprised lmao

 

[claes]

I don’t actually remember the US offering funding for expansion before (local grants for infrastructure projects, sure, but not federally for access), but please correct me if I’m wrong… I definitely feel like I’m forgetting something from the early 90’s, or maybe something else.

 

[68Olds]

I don’t actually remember the US offering funding for expansion before (local grants for infrastructure projects, sure, but not federally for access), but please correct me if I’m wrong… I definitely feel like I’m forgetting something from the early 90’s, or maybe something else.

The early 90's was federally funded cable tv expansion (because everyone has a right to watch pay tv instead of buying an antenna). I remember a news story about those funds being spent on Hilton Head Island SC, and other areas with literally no low-income residents. All of this is just an extension of an FDR New Deal program from the 1930's called the REA for rural electrification.

 

[pexxie]

1st world government: give to the people.
3rd world government: take from the people.
Amazing how 1st world essential is 3rd world luxury.
That $42b is almost how much our African governments steal from their people annually.

 

[the54thvoid]

Locked.