United States President Joe Biden has announced to spend more than $42 billion to give every American household access to high-speed internet by 2030.
Biden said that his administration is making a historic investment to connect everyone in America to high-speed and affordable Internet by 2030.
“It’s the biggest investment in high-speed Internet ever, because for today’s economy to work for everyone, Internet access is just as important as electricity was or water or other basic services,” Biden said in a White House address. “High-speed Internet isn’t a luxury anymore; it’s become an absolute necessity. That’s why we acted as soon as we did” he said.
Biden said more than 35,000 projects are already funded or underway to lay cable that provides internet access. Some of those are from $25 billion in initial funding as part of the “American Rescue Plan” to ensure high-speed Internet in places such as schools and libraries to help students connect to the Internet if they couldn’t do it at home.
High-speed internet isn’t a luxury – it’s a necessity.
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 27, 2023
Our bipartisan infrastructure law is funding 35,000 projects across America, including hundreds of projects for high-speed internet.
And to date, 19 million families are saving at least $30 a month thanks to our plan.
Highlights
- The funding will offer modern-day connectivity to more than 8.5 million U.S. households and small businesses in all 50 states, DC, and territories, where there is no high-speed internet infrastructure or unreliable internet options.
- The funding includes more than $1 billion each for 19 states, with top 10 allocations in Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington and Texas.
- All US states and territories have been awarded at least some funding, starting with the U.S. Virgin Islands, which is eligible for $27 million under the initiative known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
- The BEAD program is one of the largest-ever infusions of federal money for bringing disconnected households and businesses online.
The $42 billion in funding to deploy high-speed internet is part of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Act signed into law in November to rebuild roads, bridges, ports, airports, and deliver water and high-speed Internet to Americans.
