Biden Administration to Invest $42B in High-Speed Broadband Infrastructure 

The White House. Photo: US government

The Biden Administration is investing $42.45 billion in a high-speed broadband program with the goal of connecting every resident and small business with high-speed internet by 2030, the White House announced Monday. 

The funding is through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, with funds to be spent on planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption program. This is a grant program created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It includes planning and building up state offices, and supports outreach to local communities

BEAD prioritizes unserved locations that have no internet access or that only have access under 25/3 Mbps and underserved locations only have access under 100/20 Mbps. 

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced Monday how it will allocate the funds to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five territories. Awards range from $27 million to over $3.3 billion, with every state receiving a minimum of $107 million.

“Today, 24 million people in our country do not have access to high-speed Internet, either because they cannot afford the monthly cost of a plan or because they live in communities that have not yet been fully connected to fiber-optic networks,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in a Monday press conference. “But let us agree: In the 21st century, in America, high-speed Internet is not a luxury; it is a necessity. Every person in our nation, no matter where they live, should be able to access and afford high-speed internet.”