WASHINGTON, January 4, 2024 – Colorado on Wednesday tentatively granted more than $113.5 million in broadband expansion awards to 13 applicants to connect nearly 19,000 homes and businesses across southwest Colorado. 

All but one of the awardees are Colorado-based internet service providers and municipal network operators. The other, Visionary Communications, offers service across two additional states, Montana and Wyoming. 

Administered through the Advance Colorado Broadband Grant Program, the awards were funded by the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund. The program saw fierce competition, receiving 112 applications seeking a combined total of over $642 million across 47 counties.

Clearnetworx emerged as a major victor, securing $25.3 million for five projects. Based in Montrose, Colorado, the locally owned and operated fiber and wireless service provider arose in 2012 to address the region’s broadband scarcity.

Clearnetworx has been granted awards to install fiber along Highway 160 and Highway 184 in Montezuma County. This development coincides with the Colorado Transportation Commission’s recent approval of a fee schedule that allows broadband service providers to install fiber along the state’s roadways at reduced rates. Under the revised fiber access fee structure, broadband providers in rural counties such as Montezuma will gain access to some of the most competitive rates in the region, priced at $0.03 per foot.

Close on its heels, Maverix Broadband, is in line to win $25.1 million, aiming to deploy fiber-to-the-home services across Gilpin, Boulder, Chaffee, and Saguache counties, and Kiowa city, extending coverage to 731 locations in a city of 725 residents.

Fort Collins Connexion, a municipal broadband utility, secured $10.8 million for four projects serving 1,409 locations in Larimer County. Meanwhile, another municipal network operator, Loveland Pulse, is slated to receive $3.2 million to extend fiber connectivity to three service areas.

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe secured $8.5 million to serve 557 locations within the Southern Ute Reservation, marking a significant step in enhancing connectivity.

The recipients are committing over $42 million in additional funds towards the project’s costs – a total $155.5 million investment. 

Additionally, more funding from the Capital Projects Fund is designated for the Ridge View campus in rural Colorado. This initiative aims to establish a supportive residential community to aid in overcoming homelessness, ensuring long-term housing stability, and fostering successful reintegration into preferred communities.

The awards are set for finalization following an ongoing challenge process.

The state is committed to connecting 99 percent of Colorado’s households to “adequate” broadband by 2027. Today, over 90 percent of Colorado’s households and businesses have access to internet with 100 * 20 Megabits per second service, according to state data.

WASHINGTON, January 4, 2024 – Florida announced on Wednesday $13 million in grant funding for devices through its Digital Connectivity Technology Program.

Counties, municipalities, non-profits, and organizations serving high-poverty areas can apply for grants until March 4. The funds can be used to make devices like laptops and routers available for loan at local community centers, or to equip those community centers with connectivity equipment and devices.

The money comes from the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund, a $10 billion pandemic response that provides states money for expanding broadband infrastructure and other connectivity projects. About $9 billion of that has been awarded so far.

Florida received an additional $247 million in CPF funds for its Broadband Infrastructure Program, which the state awarded in July. Those projects are expected to get broadband 59,000 homes, businesses, farms, and community centers. 

CPF rules require new infrastructure funded by the program to deliver speeds of at least 100 * 100 Megabits per second (Mbps), but most projects funded by the state are expected to provide up to 1 * 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps).

The state will hold a webinar on the Digital Connectivity Technology Program’s application process on January 10.

WASHINGTON, December 29, 2023 – Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel again called for Congress to fund the Affordable Connectivity Program.

In a year in review note published Friday, Rosenworcel touted the FCC’s efforts to promote the ACP, which provides a $30 monthly internet discount to low-income households. She noted the more than $77 million in ACP outreach grants – money for organizations to advertise the program and get eligible households enrolled –  the Commission awarded in 2023 and the 7 million new households that signed up for the program, bringing the total to more than 22 million.

“But our progress here cannot slow down – we need help from Congress to keep this groundbreaking program going,” she wrote.

The ACP was set up with a $14.6 billion allocation from the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act. About $3.6 billion of that remains, according to a monitoring tool developed by the advocacy group Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Rosenworcel testified to the Senate in September that the Commission expects that money to dry up as early as April 2024.

Republican leaders on the House and Senate commerce committees expressed some skepticism about the program in a December 18 letter to Rosenworcel, calling the ACP “wasteful” because many enrolled low-income households were able to subscribe to broadband before receiving the subsidy. The FCC’s estimates put the number at 78 to 80,  Rosenworcel testified at a November House oversight hearing, but she noted the figures are not exact, as providers are not required to collect that information when someone enrolls.

President Joe Biden asked Congress in October for $6 billion to keep the fund afloat through 2024. Bipartisan groups of lawmakers and broadband industry groups have also pushed for Congress to refund the program, saying it will be an important tool for closing the digital divide and ensuring low-income subscribers stay online.

Providers who build new infrastructure with money from the Infrastructure Act’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program will be required to participate in the ACP, which experts have said would help stabilize revenue for ISPs who build in the hard-to-serve areas targeted by BEAD.

Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-New York, hinted at introducing a bill before the new year to address the impending ACP shortfall during the FCC oversight hearing, but the legislation has not yet materialized.