On June 9 and 10, 2021, staff from NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program provided further detail regarding the Broadband Infrastructure Program, a competitive grant program now accepting applications.  This program intends to make $288 million in awards, ranging $5 million-30 million, to covered partnerships for competitively and technologically neutral projects for the deployment of fixed broadband service to areas that do not have access to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload broadband speeds.

Broadband is essential for work, education, essential services and more, but many Americans find that reliable, affordable high-speed broadband is still out of reach. In order to meet this challenge, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has been working to expand access and increase connectivity across the U.S.

NTIA’s National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) recently added Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, and South Dako

On May 5 and 6, staff from NTIA’s BroadbandUSA program presented an overview of the Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program, a $285 million grant program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) or consortium applicants.