FCC to Authorize $640M for Broadband Expansion

The Federal Communications Commission plans to authorize more than $640 million to support new broadband deployments in 26 states, which will help boost access to virtual healthcare.

The new deployments will bring broadband access to approximately 250,000 locations, helping combat internet connectivity issues often cited as one of the key challenges to accessing virtual care.

In a 2021 survey, 45 percent of US adults said that access to technology, including broadband and computers, is a barrier to telehealth. These issues particularly impacted rural residents and adults over the age of 65.

Millions of Americans lack broadband access, with the FCC reporting that the number had reached 14.5 million at the end of 2019. But that figure may have spiked significantly since. According to the independent research organization BroadbandNow, at least 42 million Americans lacked access to terrestrial broadband internet in 2021.

The new FCC funds will be provided through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, established in 2020 to help bring high-speed fixed broadband services to rural homes and small businesses. To date, the fund has provided $4.7 billion — including $700 million authorized last November — to nearly 300 carriers for new deployments in 47 states. The fund has an overall budget of $20.4 billion to be awarded over 10 years.

The latest funding round comes soon after the FCC created the Rural Broadband Accountability Plan, which aims to ensure compliance for high-cost programs, including the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and Connect America Fund Phase II Auction. Changes have been made to audit and verification procedures per the plan, including focusing these procedures on the largest winning bidders.

"As we approve this funding, we remain committed to making sure that this program serves areas that truly need broadband and funds carriers that can do the job, and our new Rural Broadband Accountability Plan will ensure just that," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, in a press release.

The agency has already taken several steps to ensure accountability, including denying waivers for winning broadband carriers that have not made efforts to secure state approvals or act on their applications. These bidders would have otherwise received approximately $350 million.

The FCC is also taking several other steps to boost access to telehealth specifically. Through its COVID-19 Telehealth Program, the agency awarded $47.89 million in new funding to 100 healthcare organizations last month to support the growth of telehealth programs.

Further, the agency released a proposal that aims to change how payment rates are determined for rural providers using telecommunications, including telehealth.

Congress also gave a boost to telehealth access in its omnibus spending bill, which was enacted into law Tuesday. The $1.5 trillion spending package extends several temporary telehealth waivers passed during the pandemic for Medicare beneficiaries for at least five months after the public health emergency officially expires. One of the extended waivers allows federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to continue offering telehealth services.