Montana's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, maintained by the state's Department of Administration, began accepting applications this month and will continue to do so through October 15. Combined with federal funds, the state has committed nearly $1 billion to bolster broadband connectivity in one of the most sparsely populated states in the U.S.
"These are areas that are really difficult for these (telecommunications) companies to reach without some government capital to get things started," said Misty Ann Giles, director of the Department of Administration.
"They're very expensive and there's not a lot of return, because they're not connecting 1,000 homes. They're maybe connecting four homes," she said, likening the state's BEAD program to the Rural Electrification Act enacted during the Great Depression and federal water construction projects approved by Congress in the 1960s and '70s. Federal investment jumpstarted those projects, Giles said, and then let the private sector take over.
In November 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The bill committed an historic amount of federal support for lagging infrastructure nationwide. Sen. Jon Tester was among the 10 lawmakers who negotiated the bill. Those funds went to national and state programs, the heads of which had to determine how to commit them.
In Montana, well over $1 billion has been invested in rehabbing highways and bridges through the BIL. The infrastructure bill also contained funding specifically aimed at expanding broadband Internet access. In total, Montana was allocated nearly $629 million for that purpose, along with roughly $309 million in broadband projects approved by Gov. Greg Gianforte in December 2022.
The task of determining where and how to invest in Montana's broadband infrastructure fell on the ConnectMT Broadband Office, established in May 2021 and overseen by the Department of Administration. Officials within the department published several volumes documenting the digital divide in Montana. Those findings were sent to the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration as part of the state getting approved for federal funding via the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.
Goals outlined by Montana's BEAD program included increasing the access Montanans have to broadband Internet, particularly those living in the more rural parts of the state, and the rate at which households subscribed to broadband Internet. No single demographic stood out among the households without broadband access, Giles said. Montana's BEAD program identified nearly 87,500 locations that could benefit from broadband access.
"It's not the '90s," Giles said. "Everything you do is online. From paying your taxes, to if you need access to telehealth. Students are starting to access the Internet more for classwork."
While applications for BEAD funding are mostly geared toward telecommunications providers, Giles said, city, county and tribal governments can also apply. If approved, those who submitted the applications have within four years to complete their projects.
©2024 the Billings Gazette, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
