|
The Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD program,
is the largest single investment in broadband infrastructure in
American history, costing taxpayers $42 billion.
Devon Braunstein, director of the Illinois Office of Broadband,
said Illinois will be receiving just over $1 billion for the
broadband rollout.
“So what the BEAD funds will do is offer the opportunity for
internet service providers to build connections to every
household and every location who do not have it so by the end of
the program they will have at least one option they can
subscribe to,” said Braunstein.
According to a 2019 American Community Survey, 1.4 million
Illinois households do not subscribe to a high-speed internet
service, and over 1.1 million households lack a desktop or
laptop computer.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr recently testified at a House
Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing that it's been
over 1,000 days since the program was signed into law by the
Biden Administration.
"After all of that time, not one person has been connected to
the internet,” said Carr. “Not one home, not one business, not
even one shovel full of dirt has been turned.”
Carr, who said the BEAD program is wired to fail, said the days
without action are not without consequence.
“For one, each day or month that the BEAD program falls further
behind is another day or month that Americans remain on the
wrong side of the digital divide,” said Carr.
He added that the delay in program milestones will complicate
how the state and federal bodies implement funding programs. |
|
