Broadband

Armed with federal infrastructure funding, Louisiana is gearing up to run a massive $1.36 billion grant program aimed at ensuring that every community has access to high-speed Internet.

Plus, take a look at a visual of which states have had their BEAD proposals approved, find out about the Fiber Broadband Association’s new program for states and more.

The funding from the Indiana Connectivity Program will enable Surf Internet to increase access to high-speed Internet across 13 counties. It’s the largest award in the program’s history.

Plus, a broadband report card ranks ARPA-funded projects, more states see their initial proposals for BEAD funding approved, $2.7 million will support libraries’ digital literacy programming, and more.

Much of the northeastern Oklahoma county already has broadband service. About 10,000 households and businesses in seven areas, however, are still without — but nearly are expected to be online by January 2026.

Local governments and nonprofits have about two weeks to challenge a federal map indicating places in New Hampshire that are underserved and unserved by broadband. Funds distribution will follow.

The state has received initial approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on how it plans to spend $675 million in federal funds to roll out high-speed Internet. A final proposal is due within a year.

The report, from the Communications Workers of America, critiques federally funded broadband work by 14 counties in the South, Northeast and Midwest on metrics including availability of project information.

The funding, from grants via the U.S. Department of Housing and Community Development, will pay for the extension of high-speed Internet mostly in rural Livingston and Berkeley.

Plus, the FCC has launched a new mobile speed test app, HUD’s ConnectHomeUSA program has expanded to new communities, more states have seen their initial proposals for BEAD program funding accepted, and more.

Speakers at the Louisiana Rural Economic Development conference discussed the need for high-speed Internet in rural areas. Expanding fiber can stimulate local and global business, attendees said.

Buoyed by unprecedented federal funding as well as a widely accepted understanding that Internet is a fundamental part of modern life, states and cities confront the remaining obstacles to getting everyone online.

Plus, the FCC is taking steps to update broadband data collection, more states have had their initial proposals for BEAD funding approved, Oakland got a grant to expand broadband infrastructure, and more.

Provider Comcast will deploy fiber across the city starting in the southwest, covering about one mile a day. It’s part of a broadband expansion that will include all or parts of Corcoran, Cologne, Grant, Hugo, Rogers, and Stillwater Township.

Two telecommunications companies have said a fiber cut caused by vandalism is responsible for cellphone and Internet outages in Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor earlier this month. The outages came to light around July 9.

Plus, initial proposals for BEAD program funding have been approved in two more states, findings from a new report emphasize the role libraries play in bridging the digital divide, and more.

Bids to date would put the total cost of the middle-mile fiber-optic network at $1.87 million. That’s less than the $2.2 million projected. If awarded, the contracts will connect as many as 865 homes and businesses to the city-owned system.

The list of potential uses for any leftover BEAD funding includes digital equity, and one state has a plan that would direct the money toward the work for years to come.