The internet is now the essential tool for communication in our modern world, says the NTIA. It is essential for access to work, access to education, access to healthcare, and access to public services and justice. And yet today millions of people throughout America remain unconnected.
In the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth 2023 report, NTIA says, “We have been talking about the digital divide in this country for more than 20 years. Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we finally have the resources to do something serious about it.”
NTIA notes the law provided a nearly $65 billion investment for a simple, but very ambitious, mission: to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service. NTIA calls that “Internet for All,” and details the progress it’s made.
NTIA spent 2022 crafting program rules and policies, engaging with stakeholders, and awarding billions in planning, infrastructure, and adoption and use grants through programs to support states, territories, Tribes, minority-serving higher education institutions, for profit and not-for-profit service providers. The effort included $1.8 billion awarded to connect Tribal communities that year.
In 2023, NTIA supported states and territories as they prepared to receive a historic level of federal funding through the BEAD program and to administer previously funded projects. By working with the states, territories and the District of Columbia, NTIA says it’s laying the foundations necessary to ensure that America can successfully close the digital divide.
Implementing the Infrastructure Law programs over the past two years has been both challenging and rewarding, according to NTIA. “By effectively targeting our resources, partnering with other federal agencies, employing individualized oversight, and engaging with local stakeholders, NTIA and the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth are building upon years of experience and partnerships to lay the strong foundations needed for states, territories, and Tribal governments to deliver on the promise of Internet for All.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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