FCC to Pour an Additional $700M+ Into Broadband Expansion

The Federal Communications Commission plans to authorize more than $700 million in funding to broadband providers in an effort to boost internet connectivity in rural areas.

Millions of Americans lack access to broadband, though there are quibbles about the exact number. According to the FCC, the number of U.S. residents without broadband access totaled 14.5 million at the end of 2019. But an independent research organization BroadbandNow claims that this figure is much higher as of 2021, with at least 42 million Americans lacking access to terrestrial broadband internet. And, despite some gains over the past 10 years, rural Americans are still less likely than their suburban counterparts to have broadband at home and less likely than urban Americans to own a smartphone, tablet or computer.

This creates obvious problems for healthcare access. Those without broadband are cut off from health IT advancements, including the expansion of telehealth offerings, further limiting their access to care.

The latest FCC funding aims to help drive up internet connectivity. The money will go to 50 broadband providers who will use it to bring their services to more than 400,000 locations across 26 states, including Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, North Dakota, Oregon, Montana, Indiana, and New York.

"This FCC funding will be an important source of funding to begin to close the huge broadband access gap in rural areas of our country," said Brock Slabach, chief operations officer at the National Rural Health Association, in an email.

A majority of the funds will be provided to nonprofit rural electric cooperatives.

"This latest announcement highlights the agency's commitment to supporting even more opportunities to connect hundreds of thousands of Americans to high-speed, reliable broadband service while doing our due diligence to ensure the applicants can deliver to these unserved communities as promised," said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, in a news release.

The money is provided through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which was established last year. Since then, the commission has poured more than $1.7 billion into expanding broadband services via the fund.

The fund has an overall budget of $20.4 billion to be awarded over 10 years. Funding recipients must offer at least one voice and one broadband service to all locations in the awarded area within certain pre-determined timeframes.

The fund began operating amid surges in COVID-19 cases, when virtual care became central to care delivery. At this time, the lack of broadband access, especially among rural Americans, became a more pressing issue. The commission has taken several steps to bolster telehealth, including creating a $200 million COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

The issue of broadband access has also become key part of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better plan. In October, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the availability of more than $1.15 billion in federal loans and grants for broadband expansion in rural areas.

Further, the government has earmarked $65 billion for broadband deployment in the recently passed Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.