The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said on March 1 that  it is seeking input on how to structure $2.7 billion in broadband grant programs to “ensure everyone in America has the digital skills and devices they need to realize the full potential of high-speed internet access.”

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) administrator said today that the Federal government’s recent historic investment in broadband is this generation’s one chance to connect everyone in the country.

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., have reintroduced the Rural Broadband Protection Act, which would require a more thorough vetting and verification process for internet service providers seeking to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) high-cost support programs.

The Treasury Department has approved $354 million of funding for three new projects that will bring high-speed internet to 190,000 homes and businesses in Arizona, Tennessee, and Wyoming.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will seek feedback from stakeholders and the general public on what it can do to encourage greater participation by eligible Tribal applicants in the E-Rate program, which provides high-speed internet to schools and libraries.

The Colorado Broadband Office (CBO), under the Governor’s Office of Information Technology, has launched a new online Broadband Mapping Hub to assist Internet Service Providers, schools, communities, and businesses in their broadband planning efforts.

For more than a year, President Biden’s nomination of Gigi Sohn to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has been stalled in the Senate. On Feb. 14, the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee held its third hearing on her nomination, and it was largely a rinse and repeat of previous hearings.

The Ohio State University (OSU) will use $3 million in state funding to design curriculum for Ohio’s Broadband and 5G Sector Partnership to help develop a skilled broadband workforce, according to a press release from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.

A bipartisan group of senators – Sens. Ben Ray Lujan, D-N.M.; John Thune, R-S.D.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Deb Fischer, R-Neb. – have reintroduced the Rural Internet Improvement Act. The legislation would “streamline and bolster U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development broadband programs and ensure that their funding is being targeted to rural areas that need it the most,” according to the bill’s cosponsors.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – in the midst of an ongoing revamp of how it builds and updates its national broadband maps – is in the process of gathering crowdsourced data from the public and considering how to use it to improve the mapping process.