Biden Administration Announces Plan to Connect All US Homes and Small
Businesses to High-Speed Internet by 2030
On Monday, President
Joe Biden
announced plans to distribute billions of dollars allocated by Congress to
connect every household and small business in the United States to high-speed
internet. The move aims to bring internet access to underserved Americans,
particularly in rural communities where it is often out of reach.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients likened the initiative to the 1936
Rural Electrification Act, when the federal government installed electrical
utility lines to light up rural America. He stated that high-speed internet
access is now a necessity for daily life, just like electricity, and
highlighted the difficulties faced by millions of Americans in rural
communities without access to high-speed internet.
The $42.5 billion program will distribute funds to states, territories, and
Washington, DC, based on the number of unserved locations. The amount each
jurisdiction will receive primarily depends on the number of locations lacking
access to internet speeds of at least 25 megabits per second for downloads and
3 megabits per second for uploads.
Congress passed the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD,
through the infrastructure bill signed by the Democratic president in 2021.
BEAD, along with several other internet expansion initiatives, aims to expand
broadband access in the US. The Federal Communications Commission recently
completed maps for the giant task force indicating that more than 7% of the
country falls under the category of underserved.
The initiative is expected to bridge the digital divide and provide equal
access to high-speed internet for all Americans by 2030.