Despite more than three decades of public and private efforts to expand the availability of broadband service, millions of Americans still lack access to reliable high-speed internet connections and millions more cannot afford connections when they are available.
The initiative seeks to solve these problems by:
- Advocating for state and federal policy change.
- Addressing key gaps in the research to help inform policy efforts around the country.
- Partnering with state governments to implement evidence-based solutions for broadband expansion.
- Educating and mobilizing stakeholders from fields such as health care, education, and workforce development to be champions for universal, affordable broadband access.
States are uniquely positioned to extend and sustain affordable broadband access into the future, positioning all communities to benefit from the connectivity that Americans rely on to learn, work, and engage in today’s society.
States continue to make headway on the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a $42 billion federal initiative to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.
After several years of planning, states and territories are receiving final approval of their plans for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a federal initiative that aims to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.
Increasing broadband deployment has been a critical component of the United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic and a central aspect of the recent wave of funding aimed at modernizing the country’s infrastructure.
The federal government’s $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which aims to expand high-speed internet access nationwide, dominated broadband policy headlines in 2025
