Louisiana is the first state to receive planning grants for deploying high-speed internet networks and developing digital skills training programs under the Administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, according to NTIA. BEAD is part of the Internet for All initiative. Louisiana will receive $2 million for BEAD planning and over $900,000 for digital equity planning.
The BEAD program has a budget of $42.5 billion for rural broadband deployments. The Digital Equity Act provides $2.75 billion to establish three grant programs to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of the digital economy.
“The Internet for All initiative is on track and on schedule,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “Over the coming weeks, every state and territory will have funding in hand as they begin to build grant-making capacity, assess their unique needs, and engage with diverse stakeholders to make sure that no one is left behind.”
All fifty states and six territories applied for planning grant funding for the BEAD program and the Digital Equity Act program. The amount of BEAD funding that will be available to each state will be determined based on the number of unserved locations in the state and the percentage that number represents of total U.S. unserved locations. The NTIA expects to use FCC data in determining those percentages and the FCC is still in the process of gathering that data.
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