US announces $42 billion program for affordable high-speed broadband

The US government has announced the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that plans to deliver reliable, affordable high-speed internet to everyone in the country by the end of the decade. $42.45 billion has been allocated to the program.

The White House said that it’ll award states anywhere from $27 million to $3.3 billion, based on the areas’ needs. 19 states will be given more than $1 billion with the top ten states being Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia, and Washington.

Aside from states, Washington DC and the territories, such as American Samoa and Puerto Rico, will also be given money. To see how much your state or territory will receive, check out the table on this page.

The program is the largest internet funding announcement in history according to the administration. Over a three-week period, President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Cabinet members, and Senior Administration Officials will “fan out” across the country to highlight the benefits of the program including investments, jobs, and new projects.

“Put simply, high-speed Internet is a necessity in today’s society,” said Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to the President and White House Infrastructure Coordinator. “Just like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Rural Electrification Act made a historic investment in rural areas bringing electricity to nearly every home in America, President Biden and Vice President Harris are committed to leaving no community behind as we connect everyone in America to high-speed Internet.”

The BEAD funding will be used to deploy or upgrade broadband networks across all of the country and territories so that everyone has access to decent internet. The completion date for this upgrade is expected to be 2030 and any remaining funding will be used “to pursue eligible access-, adoption-, and equity-related uses".

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