The US Department of Commerce has awarded nearly $6 million to Connecticut to plan for the rollout and adoption of high-speed Internet across the state, kicking off an infrastructure project likened to the completion of the railroads in the 19th century and to the electrification of homes in the 20th century.
Majority of the funding will go to the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s Office of Telecommunications and Broadband to develop its plan to make broadband Internet available statewide, extending connectivity to underserved areas and underserved, which include urban neighborhoods and rural regions such as the northwest corner of the state.
About $750,000 is earmarked for the Department of Administrative Services’ Educational Technology Commission to develop its “Digital Equity Plan,” intended to meet the digital needs of historically disenfranchised groups through the provision of Internet-enabled devices and digital skills training, among other initiatives.
Funded through the federal Internet Investment and Jobs Act, the planning grants will open the door to potential $100 million in federal funding over the next five years.
Alan Davidson, who heads the National Technology and Information Administration of Commerce, said Tuesday that the funding was for planning. “We have given the state some homework from the federal government,” Davidson said at a virtual news conference. “Before we write a check for $100 million, we want to see a plan for how you’re going to spend it.”
US Senator Richard Blumenthal called the grant a “down payment,” noting that the full $100 million should be available late next year. “The sooner we plan, the sooner we get the money,” he said, addressing state administrators at a virtual conference Tuesday. “So, Connecticut boys, let’s move and move fast.”
Hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents – e thousands of small businesses Statewide: Affordable, high-speed Internet is lacking. But work is underway to roll out broadband access and fill the equity gap.
NTIA funding adds to another federal program under the American Rescue Plan Act’s Capital Projects Fund. Connecticut approved for $43 million in funding under that program earlier this year. This funding is intended to expand broadband access to at least 10,000 households and businesses across the state, as well as some subsidies to help pay for the service. It will provide at least 100 megabits per second of upload and download speeds.
Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management has been working this year to map broadband access across the state. OPM extension published the details of that study last month, confirming the lack of many urban areas and large portions of rural northwest Connecticut.
U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes, D-5th District, said Tuesday there are about 275 miles of road in Connecticut without cellular connectivity. “I can tell you, when I travel to these areas, you can be in the dark for hours while you’re on the road,” she said. “I think we are on the road to improvement in these areas.”
Given the investment required for high-speed Internet access to reach many of these locations, state officials said full deployment could take three to five years, particularly in rural areas.
“We’re not going to roll out a really good solution because we might have to wait an extra year to get it done,” Revenue Department head Mark Boughton said on Tuesday. “So it will be in our lifetime, that’s for sure. It will be sooner rather than later, but I think three to five years is a safe bet.”
Several officials said on Tuesday that to achieve the digital equity goals stated by the Infrastructure Act, programs must go beyond simple connectivity.
“A convenient connection doesn’t help though [people] they don’t have the devices, skills or know-how to thrive when they’re online,” said Davidson.
Hayes said the state’s delegation to Congress will continue working to get more funding to expand digital access.
“I think the pandemic has taught us that high-speed internet is not a luxury, it’s a necessity for so many families, for so many communities,” she said.
This is “our moment,” Blumenthal said, “comparable to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provided electricity throughout the South, comparable to the completion of the railroads that connected east and west in our nation.”