Today, President Biden will announce the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program along with state BEAD allocations. The program was first discussed in 2021 as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill and is intended to provide funding for bringing broadband access to underserved and unserved areas throughout the United States. In total, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will fund around $90 billion for high-speed internet.
As reported by Telecompetitor, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients said during a briefing last week, “Internet access is not a nice to have at this point. It’s a need-to-have or must-have… President Biden will kick off the second leg of the Invest in America tour by announcing the largest interest funding ever so that everyone can have affordable, reliable, high-speed internet access.”
It will soon be required for states to set up fiber broadband access sans “high cost” areas, though some restrictions do apply.
“Under President Biden’s leadership, the infamous infrastructure week, or infrastructure month, has finally become a reality,” said Jeff Zients.
The BEAD program will allot $42.5 billion to states in need of upgrading or developing broadband infrastructure, the largest internet funding program to date. States will be awarded funding for areas that have either no service speeds or speeds under 25/3 Mbps to bring speeds up to 100/20 Mbps or faster.
Through the BEAD program, providers and operators will still need to provide no less than 25 percent of project costs. States slated to receive funding will be awarded money based on the number of underserved/unserved spots in each state. The Federal Communications Commission will use the National Broadband Map to determine how much each state is eligible for. Each state will receive at least $100 million earmarked for high-speed internet expansion.
President Biden will make his announcement this afternoon during a speech at a White House Event.