A seven-day public comment period on the state’s final Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ends Tuesday.
If the plan is approved, every BEAD-eligible location — more than 101,000 — in Alabama will have access to internet connectivity, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs said in a written statement this week.
“One of my biggest priorities since taking office has been expanding high-speed internet infrastructure across our state to ensure that every single Alabamian has access to connectivity,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in the statement. “My administration has worked hand-in-glove with the Trump Administration to make our BEAD proposal as low-cost as possible. As a result, our final outcome represents a savings of over $800 million for the American taxpayers –a savings of more than 60 percent, as defined by NTIA percent from Alabama’s original BEAD allocation.”
The $1.4 billion in federal funds were awarded to Alabama last year as part of the $42 billion BEAD program, a component of the 2021 Infrastructure Act.
When the BEAD-funded projects are completed by internet service providers, Alabama will have full broadband coverage as defined by NTIA. Statewide broadband access was an effort started several years ago and has included $87 million in state funds as well as other federal sources.
“Gov. Ivey made clear to me at the very beginning that she wanted every single Alabamian to have access to high-speed internet,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said in the written statement. “I am proud to say that, as a result of close coordination with NTIA, internet service providers, local communities and others, the approval of this final proposal will allow us to get to the finish line.
This plan, once approved, will pay dividends for the people who call Alabama home for decades to come.”
Earlier this year, the NTIA changed the guidelines for BEAD to allow satellite broadband companies to compete for the grants.
According to ADECA, the final Alabama proposal provides for wired fiber terrestrial broadband construction to nearly 80 percent of eligible locations and low-earth orbit satellite service to just over 20 percent. That represents a savings of about $800 million from the state’s original $1.4 billion allocation, the agency said.
Providers in the proposal include Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Amazon’s low-orbit satellite broadband network, along with about a dozen fiber providers.
State lawmakers had previously asked ADECA to look at the possibility of satellite providers for remote parts of the state.