The surprise wasn’t what President Biden said about broadband in the East Room of the White House – it was that he said it in the East Room of the White House.As far as federal programs go, $42.5 billion isn’t nothing. But it isn’t a lot of money, either. I think the takeaway of yesterday’s announcement is that Biden (and Vice President Kamala Harris) want to be associated with improving Americans’ broadband.&nbsp;<h2>Parallels with rural electrification of three generations ago</h2>I was struck by the repeated mentions of the connection between the bipartisan infrastructure law and the 1936 Rural Electrification Act passed during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.The 1936 law intended to bring electricity to nearly every home and farm in America, the administration noted.&nbsp;“High-speed internet is the new electricity,” the White House noted in the first page of its briefing guide.&nbsp;“Today, roughly 8.5 million locations across America aren’t connected to the internet. The Biden-Harris Administration is going to close that gap. As a result of once-in-a-generation funding in the President’s Investing in America agenda… to bring affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to everyone in America.”&nbsp;<h2>States learn that they win some and lose some</h2><a href="https://ready.net/state-broadband-office-resources/list-ntia-bead-broadband-grant-allocations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">States are still digesting their numbers released yesterday.</a>Some states, like Virginia, were pleased with their numbers – $1.48 billion. Other states, like Kansas, were disappointed – $451 million. The next step will be to compare the numbers released yesterday with the various industry and analyst projections that have been made.&nbsp;Critically important will be understanding why&nbsp;each state received their particular award – and the tools that state broadband offices need to manage the state challenge processes.&nbsp;<h2>Linkages to other aspects of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda</h2>Another thing I heard while I listened to Biden’s statements yesterday was how the president is doubling down on “Buy America” rules.In its briefing prior to the announcement, the administration highlighted how “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving a manufacturing boom – in part because of provisions in the historic legislation passed by President Biden that requires made-in-America materials.”For example, they highlighted a recent announcement in North Carolina by fiber optic cable manufacturers Corning and CommScope announced $500 million and $47 million expansions of facilities earlier in the year.There are some thorny issues to address here, too. But as the broadband industry welcomes the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, in needs to be conscious of sorting through these challenges, too.

Parallels with rural electrification, states digest their awards, and learning to live with Buy America rules.

Some early takeaways on the Biden administration’s BEAD allocation announcement

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<h3>A Wealth of New Guides for Broadband Funding</h3>We are seeing a great variety of guides and resources to the federal broadband funding landscape. As the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act timeline becomes more real, we are seeing resources and tools that help applicants become better educated on each of the various grant programs.Two guides that recently caught my eye include the “<a href="https://d2e111jq13me73.cloudfront.net/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/federal_broadband_funding_guide.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" download="download">Federal Broadband Funding Opportunities</a>” guide from Common Sense Media, and this multi-part guide, including “<a href="https://www.us-ignite.org/part-1-a-state-sized-tsunami-of-federal-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A State-Sized Tsunami of Federal Funding</a>” from US Ignite.Other resources include this <a href="https://muninetworks.org/content/community-guide-to-federal-funding-opportunities-for-broadband" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">great early summary</a> about IIJA from the Institute for Local Self Reliance’s Community Networks project, and their <a href="https://muninetworks.org/content/usda-reconnect-iija-read-guide-federal-broadband-funding-opportunities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recent follow-through</a>.The US Ignite guide (at least the version linked above) is a brief and to-the-point description of the funding landscape. The Common Sense Media guide goes into greater detail on each of the core programs: Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, the Middle Mile Grants Program, the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program.In particular, the Common Sense guide highlights recipients, timelines, and uses for each of the programs.And on that subject of dissecting individual grant programs, don’t miss this upcoming series of <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/bblo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband Breakfast Live Online events</a> (actually Broadband Breakfast for Lunch, as we will be doing these events both live online and in person) on March 9, April 13, May 11, and June 8. Stay tuned for information about Broadband.Money on these events, too.And, of course, don’t miss all the <a href="https://broadband.money/resources" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">resources geared to IIJA</a> that you are finding here on Broadband.Money. &nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/bbm-public-bucket/common_sense_broadband_funding_guide_broadband_money_e6a5a30ec2.jpg"></figure>

As the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act timeline becomes more real, more resources will help applicants get better educated.

Guides to Broadband Funding

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At a small telecommunications industry event in Park City, Utah, called the “Rural Wireless Infrastructure Summit,” officials at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration refined their broadband infrastructure spending message to include a role for wireless deployment.“We are thinking about deploying fiber really deep into the country” and putting “wireless on top of that” to enable multiple applications – including precision agriculture – that will benefit from better broadband deployment, said Phil Murphy a senior advisor in office of the assistant secretary of NTIA, on June 28, 2022.The&nbsp;NTIA is the U.S. Commerce Department agency responsible for spending more than $45 billion of the $65 billion for broadband allocated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. His virtual keynote address was followed by state-level broadband officials and others in the rural wireless space.&nbsp;“We see a lot of benefits here to the industry as a whole, and to able to access high speed services as a result” of the administration’s push for broadband. Although he acknowledged that <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2022/06/ntia-official-acknowledges-clear-preference-for-fiber-in-infrastructure-deployment-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NTIA has a preference for fiber deployment</a>, he also noted that states will be the primary drivers of their respective spends on funding.What works in Delaware may not work in Wyoming, he acknowledged.Murphy also addressed digital equity planning grants, which are due to be filed by states on July 12, 2022, as well as issues of Tribal broadband funding, a subject of particular interest to many in the Western U.S.Although a previous funding round for nearly $1 billion in Tribal broadband funding closed last year, IIJA provides an additional $2 billion for Tribal broadband. Murphy said the NTIA will release a second notice of funding opportunity for Tribal broadband later this year.“We found many Tribes that didn’t apply, or applications that were as strong as they should have been,” he said, speaking about the first round of funding.Tribal leaders, he said, “face a lot of unique kinds of resources challenges,” including the need that many Tribal elders had to apply for the first round of broadband grants at the same time as the subsistence hunting season.Murphy said the NTIA will create a new funding window during a different time of the year.&nbsp;<h3>Other digital infrastructure investment matters for Rural America</h3>The Park City event, which featured other keynote remarks by Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2022/06/fcc-chairwoman-jessica-rosenworcel-emphasizes-100-percent-broadband-adoption/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jessica Rosenworcel</a> and Commissioner <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2022/06/fcc-commissioner-supports-rural-telco-efforts-to-implement-rip-and-replace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Geoffrey Starks</a>, was co-hosted by the Rural Wireless Association and the <a href="https://rinawireless.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rural Independent Network Alliance</a>.RINA has core strength in the intermountain West. It aims to help rural wireless carriers with a number of technology tasks, including replacing Chinese-manufactured telecommunications equipment, such as has been purchased by many in recent years from Huawei.Other speakers at the event focused on the way in which fiber deployments deeper into communities (both urban and rural), coupled with money from private equity, represent an infrastructure opportunity for Rural America.Speaking on an infrastructure roundtable, Alok Sarsidharan, vice present of specialized and asset management procurement for the Macquarie Group, said that mixing private capital with IIJA funding provides an opportunity for both investors and broadband users to win.

The industry as a whole, including wireless and fiber providers, will benefit from the Commerce Department's broadband deployment under the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Wireless infrastructure part of fiber-fed future, says NTIA official at rural summit

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The quest for a better broadband map didn’t begin yesterday.&nbsp;But the combination of an engaged community of academic researchers, and the momentum behind the urgent need to “truth check” the claims of internet service providers brings us to a propitious moment for our country.Beginning on Friday, September 16, 2022, <a href="http://www.tprcweb.com/50th-anniversary-celebration" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TPRC50</a> opens here in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;Officially the <a href="http://www.tprcweb.com/2022-program-overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50th Annual Research Conference on Communications, Information and Internet Policy</a>, TPRC is the “must-attend” gathering of all the broadband and telecommunications geeks. It’s been around since the very foundation of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.In fact, NTIA — which is the executive-branch agency responsible for the administration’s telecom policy — had just formed at the time of the first Telecommunications Policy Research Conference on November 17, 1972.This persistent crowd has been considering telecommunications innovation, public utilities, radio frequency spectrum and media ownership for a half-century now. The <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/56a114ff5dc6de6ca8f06129/t/62a7767812b5863a8a173795/1655142009144/TPRC+1972+Program.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first conference program</a> seems refreshingly topical.Besides being a persistent crowd, TPRC’s strength is its inclusive nature. The crowd that attends this academic conference caters equally to industry and to the university and non-profit community.This year - with the rollout of the largest federal funding in broadband infrastructure history - the need for TPRC is urgent and vital.&nbsp;NTIA is leading the charge with an unprecedented amount of $42.5 billion in broadband infrastructure funding for last-mile internet deployment. Participants in the <a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband Grants Community</a> should take advantage of this opportunity to bring the passion and the expertise of TPRC to bear on the broadband data and measurement problems that must be solved to successfully role out the <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/infrastructure-investment-jobs-act" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.</a><h2>How TPRC has traversed the issue of broadband data in the past</h2>My own history with TPRC goes back some time, but not quite 50 years. I began attending TPRC in 2006, and it was at the events in that year, and the years that followed, that I teamed up with my TPRC-ers to launch a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get access to broadband data.I’ve <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2022/06/broadband-mapping-coalition-seeks-to-bring-openness-back-to-internet-data/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">been a strong advocate</a> of the importance of public and open broadband data for more than 15 years. (See <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/02/infrastructure-investment-decisions-need-transparency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“U.S. broadband infrastructure investments need transparency</a>,” ArsTechnica, February 10, 2009.) That op-ed recounts our efforts to obtain FCC Form 477 data in 2006 and 2007, followed by founding BroadbandCensus.com in January 2008 to crowdsource the collection of broadband speed and availability data.The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009 opened up even more opportunities for critical thinking about the kinds of broadband data necessary for a national broadband building.&nbsp;The ARRA was the largest federal investment of broadband funds, up until that point. And, at the 2009 TPRC, one of the highlights was an informal session on “<a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2009/09/beer-and-broadband-mapping-at-the-top-telecommunications-policy-conference/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beer and Broadband Mapping</a>”&nbsp;I had the great pleasure to team up with the now-late Charles Benton, who emphasized this vital principal: Broadband data needs to be publicly available in order to be verified and scrutinized.This issue never seems to die. <a href="http://www.broadband.money" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.money</a> is working with the <a href="https://broadbandmappingcoalition.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband Mapping Coalition</a>, an arm of the digital equity group <a href="https://www.marconisociety.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Marconi Society</a>, to promote the public’s engagement with the Federal Communications’ Fabric mapping initiative. The goal is to make sure that the process is truly open to public oversight and input as the U.S. Commerce Department implements the largest expenditure of federal broadband funds in history.<h2>What to look for at this year’s TPRC</h2>As is typical, TPRC in 2022 is broken into a half-dozen track or topics, including “Broadband,” “Spectrum, “Digital Economy, “Privacy,” “Internet Inequalities” and others. The “Broadband” segment this year is particularly rich, with nine sessions.With an eye toward those in the Broadband Grants community who are most interested in “Broadband Performance,” Broadband Competition,” and “Broadband Technology and Policy,” I’ve linked to highlight several core sessions.&nbsp;The Broadband.Money team will be focusing our coverage of TPRC this year on these sessions. (But we invite members of the community attending TPRC <a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to post</a> as well!)<h2>Broadband Performance</h2>On Friday at 11:05 a.m., David Reed of the University of Colorado at Boulder will moderate a session on core aspects of broadband data, including broadband labels and metrics for broadband access, including a presentation by MIT’s David Clark and MIT’s Sara Wedeman.A follow-up session on the same topic will be moderated by Bob Cannon of NTIA, and will feature research on quality in competition among ISPs, of whether “your mileage my vary” on consumer internet performance, and on crowdsourcing quality of service measurements, on Saturday at 11:05 a.m.<h2>Broadband Competition, Broadband Technology and Policy and COVID</h2>Sessions on these above topics are also critical for members of the TPRC attendees who are part of the Broadband Grants Community.&nbsp;A session on “COVID Impacts on Communication” will highlight broadband infrastructure and school district policies by Kenneth Flamm on Friday at 4:05 p.m.&nbsp;And a discussion of “Best Practices for Collecting Speed Test Data” will be part of a discussion on Saturday at 9 a.m.&nbsp;And don’t miss Technology Policy Institute’s Scott Wallsten’s moderation of a session, also on Saturday at 9 a.m., on “Broadband Technology Policy” that includes a spatial analysis of Wi-Fi locations, delivering affordable and universal broadband and the changing role of internet protocols.<h2>What Broadband.Money and TPRC attendees can should bring to the research table</h2>Broadband.money is joining the discussion this year by bringing you our <a href="https://broadband.money/state-broadband-map/california" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">research and data visualizations</a> in the form of <a href="https://broadband.money/state-broadband-map/virginia" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our maps of internet performance and demographics</a>. They show where investment is needed independently and in comparison to the data provided by internet service providers themselves.For an example of how this works, please take a look at <a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/c/get-broadband-grant-alerts-news/these-two-organizations-want-to-help-us-agree-on-what-the-digital-divide-really-means-at-stake-billions-in-broadband-grants" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this blog post </a>by Broadband.money’s Director of Digital Community Sarah Lai Stirland — who will also attend this year's conference. Please feel free to stop by and introduce yourself.

The 50th TPRC is the “must-attend” gathering of all the broadband and telecommunications geeks.

50 years in the quest to understand broadband deployment

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Issues of both digital equity and broadband mapping permeated a Saturday afternoon capstone discussion at TPRC on lessons learned from past federal broadband deployment efforts.The two-day academic conference TPRC, originally the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, is <a href="https://broadband.money/blog/50-years-in-the-quest-to-understand-broadband-deployment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a major gathering event for academics, policy-makers and industry officials focused on communications and internet policy</a>.&nbsp;The most sizable discussion point at the event was on broadband. At the September 17, 2022, panel session, experts explored how prior deployment efforts will fare under the bipartisan infrastructure law.“There was a lot of elbowing in the vendor community [for mapping over] what terrain was open for bids,” said Sharon Strover, a professor at University of Texas at Austin who was involved in the broadband programs under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.“It was warfare. I have seen that same thing over again” in current discussion of broadband mapping, she said.At least three of the other panelists directly addressed question about mapping, which looms large in discussions surrounding the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program.<h3>States have been increasing their capacity for broadband grants</h3>Panelists were not optimistic about the successful deployment of updated broadband maps by the Federal Communications Commission. Those maps will determine in which states BEAD funds are spent.&nbsp;Still, the spirit of the session suggested optimism that the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration has learned lessons from past broadband projects.Now, NTIA is running the $42.5 billion BEAD program, which is the largest part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s $65 billion in broadband funding.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/bbm-public-bucket/TPRC_panel_8085737044.jpeg"></figure>Moderator Alexis Schrubbe (left), and panelists Johannes Bauer, Sharon&nbsp;Strover, Angela Siefer, Anna Read, Joshua Edmonds, and Francois Bar (left to right)Whether the FCC succeeds or not in its quest for improved maps, state broadband offices will be responsible for implementing the BEAD program, and “states are well positioned” to handle that responsibility, said Anna Reed, who leads the broadband access initiative at the Pew Charitable Trusts.Both immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and because of it, states have been increasing their capacity by creating some form of broadband offices within state government, Reed said.&nbsp;And while some state program had significant broadband funding, until the pandemic the majority of them did not.&nbsp;Federal laws passed in 2020 and 2021 have given the states what they needed — broadband money — to close the gaps among those who lack internet service and the ability to make use of it. “States were never going to have the level of funding to close [the digital divide] at any real speed,” she said.<h3>Digital equity cannot be disentangled from broadband infrastructure</h3>No matter the role of federal and state broadband maps in the deployment of BEAD, one issue that won’t go away is ensuring digital equity.In particular, it is vital that the nation spend federal funds well by ensuring “equitable access to and use of [broadband] technologies,” said Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. She said her group has nearly quadrupled in size since the beginning of the pandemic.As BEAD programs roll out, Siefer encouraged policy-makers, advocates and academics to ensure that they are interacting with bona-fide community members working on digital equity and digital inclusion efforts. She cited the NDIA community’s more than 900 affiliated organizations as a model to look to.And yet broadband infrastructure cannot be separated from the role that is being played in digital inclusion, said Joshua Edmonds,&nbsp;speaking on the panel about Detroit’s work with both&nbsp;broadband infrastructure and broadband adoption and use.“We can’t coupon our way to digital equity,” said Edmonds, who has been at the City of Detroit’s Office of Digital Inclusion and the city’s Connect313. It was announced on September 19, 2022, that <a href="https://discuss.broadband.money/c/get-broadband-grant-alerts-news/joshua-edmonds-leaves-connect313-to-join-cleveland-based-nonprofit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Edmonds will become the CEO of Cleveland-based non-profit DigitalC</a>.

At a Telecommunications Policy Research Conference session on lessons learned from past broadband deployments, panelists link role improving infrastructure with digital equity.

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