The Treasury Department approved an additional five states to receive a total of about $408 million in broadband deployment funds. The money for Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Arkansas comes from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund (CPF).
The CPF provides $10 billion to states, territories, and Tribal governments to fund critical capital projects that enable work, education, and health monitoring in response to the public health emergency. A key priority of the program is to make funding available for reliable, affordable broadband infrastructure and other digital connectivity technology projects. In addition to the $10 billion provided by the CPF, many governments are using a portion of their State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds toward meeting the administration’s goal of connecting every American household to affordable, reliable high-speed internet.
The state plans approved in this group will support broadband infrastructure and are designed to deliver reliable internet service that meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Mbps. Treasury designed its guidance to prioritize connecting families and businesses with poor and inadequate service—particularly those in rural and remote areas.
In accordance with Treasury’s guidance, each state’s plan requires service providers to participate in the FCC’s new Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP helps ensure that households can afford the high-speed internet they need for work, school, and healthcare. The ACP provides a discount of up to $30 per month (or up to $75 per eligible household on Tribal lands). The FCC estimates about 48 million families are eligible for the program—nearly 40 percent of households.
Beyond the ACP, Treasury requires recipients to consider whether the federally funded networks will be affordable to the target markets in their service area. It encourages recipients to require that a federally funded project offer at least one low-cost option at speeds that are sufficient for a household with multiple users. Treasury announced the first two rounds of state awards in June and July, and will continue approving state and Tribal plans on a rolling basis.
The new awards are as follows:
- Arkansas was approved for $47.5 million. It estimates it will connect 5,500 homes and businesses by building high-speed internet service in rural and remote areas lacking reliable internet connections.
- Connecticut, approved for $40.8 million, estimates it will connect 10,000 homes and businesses to affordable high-speed internet by focusing on low-income and multi-family homes and businesses and areas lacking reliable high-speed internet connections.
- Indiana will receive $187 million and estimates it will connect 50,349 rural homes and businesses to affordable, reliable high-speed internet services.
- Nebraska will receive $87.7 million and believes it will connect 21,000 rural homes and businesses.
- North Dakota was approved for $45 million and believes 3,965 homes and businesses will be connected to affordable internet. The program aims to provide sustainable, future-proof connectivity to areas in the state lacking connectivity of at least 100/20 Mbps, including Tribal lands.
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