Miles SmithThe Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity (ConnectLA) is planning to award $1.355 billion for projects to expand broadband access throughout the state with the help of federal funding made available through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
The NTIA Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding will be distributed through the state’s Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) 2.0 program, which looks to expand fiber optic connectivity to approximately 140,000 locations in the state.
The NTIA has provisionally approved the funding. The state recently submitted its final draft proposal for BEAD funding to the NTIA. The public is invited to comment on it through Dec. 10.
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The program plans to support 100,000 households, 35,000 small businesses and 4,000 locations that include public safety locations, schools and hospitals. Louisiana will be the first in the nation to award the funding.
The plan for deployment includes:
- 95% of the approximately 140,000 BEAD-eligible locations receiving fiber optic connectivity.
- Burying 90% of the fiber plant underground to ensure infrastructure integrity and building more than 30 mobile towers to ensure overall telecommunications resilience.
- Distributing 70% of the deployment funding will be given to companies based in Louisiana.
The initial round of GUMBO grants was awarded in 2022. More than $170 million was awarded to projects in 50 different parishes, with over 80,000 locations to be served, ConnectLA said.
The state will also distribute $500 million in GUMBO 2.0 non-deployment funds across state agencies, economic development organizations, academic institutions, healthcare associations and other organizations.
Non-deployment funding refers to funds allocated within a program specifically designed to expand broadband internet access, but which are not directly used for building out physical infrastructure to reach unserved areas
The non-deployment funding is expected address the digital divide in areas like education, workforce development, economic development, agriculture and healthcare. The investments include initiatives such as telehealth expansion and scaling digital K-12 programming, ConnectLA said.
Image by Michael Schwarzenberger from Pixabay
