Tag: Internet Access

Louisiana’s Drive for Reliable Internet Access

Louisiana is on a mission to bring reliable internet access to every household in the state, according to this article from Nola.com. With a five-year campaign backed by a billion-dollar investment, the goal is clear: to ensure that high-speed internet is accessible to all. However, this ambitious endeavor hasn’t been without its challenges, as some companies have been putting up roadblocks along the way.

Veneeth Iyengar, the executive director of ConnectLA, the state’s broadband office, acknowledges that Louisiana faces significant gaps in internet mobility and coverage. To address this issue, the federal government awarded the state a substantial sum of $1.36 billion, granting Louisiana the eighth-largest allocation in the country. But this funding comes with a deadline—a five-year shot-clock. The state must commit to spending the money efficiently to make substantial progress.

In 2021, Louisiana received $177 million from the federal American Rescue Plan Act, aimed at increasing broadband infrastructure spending. To distribute these funds, the state introduced the Granting Underserved Municipalities Opportunities Act (GUMBO), inviting companies to bid on broadband projects. However, this process faced delays as some providers questioned whether certain areas were genuinely underserved. Rep. Daryl Deshotel, the author of the GUMBO grant act, expressed his frustration with companies trying to hold onto areas to block competitors from entering the market.

One company even appealed 50 projects across the state, grinding progress to a halt. Rep. Jeremy LaCombe, who represents rural areas benefiting from the GUMBO program, believes that certain companies objected in bad faith, hindering projects that could have brought fiber internet to thousands of homes.

A 2022 survey conducted by LSU revealed that about 75% of Louisianans have broadband access in their homes. However, that remaining 25% represents a critical segment of the population without reliable internet access. The importance of internet connectivity became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when people relied heavily on the internet for work, education, and telehealth services.

While significant progress has been made in expanding broadband access, especially in urban areas, the lack of access remains a pressing issue for rural families. Gov. John Bel Edwards emphasized the problem, pointing out that it is unacceptable for children to have to go to places like McDonald’s to access the internet for their homework. For many families in remote areas, such options are simply not available.

With the recent $1.36 billion investment, Louisiana is introducing GUMBO 2.0, a revised strategy to prevent company holdups and expedite progress. The state will now have a 90-day challenge process before each grant round, allowing internet service providers to challenge locations marked for expansion. To support this initiative, the federal government has developed a more accurate map to identify underserved areas, ensuring a fair adjudication process for address-level challenges. Examining the updated map, it becomes evident that central and north Louisiana are still struggling with limited internet access, with up to 40% of the population lacking coverage. This puts Louisiana at a disadvantage compared to states in the Northeast and Midwest, as it ranks 46th in the U.S. in terms of internet coverage, speed, and availability according to BroadbandNow.

Recently, a groundbreaking ceremony celebrated GUMBO’s largest investment to date, a project that will bring cable internet to nearly 10,000 households and businesses in Avoyelles Parish. With a combination of federal grants and private investments, this project sets an example of what can be achieved with collaborative efforts.

In conclusion, the journey to bring reliable internet access to every home in Louisiana has had its share of obstacles. But with determined efforts, substantial investments, and revised strategies like GUMBO 2.0, the state is making remarkable progress. By addressing challenges, improving maps, and collaborating with internet service providers, Louisiana is moving closer to bridging the digital divide and ensuring equal opportunities for all its residents.

For more Louisiana-related articles, click here.

Louisiana Legislation Seeks to Invest $180M for Rural Access to Broadband Internet

Over the next three years, the state of Louisiana will award $180 million in grants to various telecommunication firms so that broadband internet infrastructure can be constructed in the state’s more underserved communities, as per an article fromThe Advocate.

The average American’s reliance on broadband services became very apparent during the state’s stay-at-home orders due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many families were becoming more and more aware of the need for fast, reliable internet speeds so that families could stream movies, parents could work remotely, and students could learn from home.

The extended period of isolation left many examining their internet usage, but the time also shined a light on those rural Louisiana communities that have been “underserved” by internet service providers. Such was the case for the citizens of Ville Platte, Louisiana.  During the pandemic citizens of the Evangeline Parish community often flocked to the parking lots of City Hall or McDonald’s in order to use their hotspot internet services.

Louisiana’s more rural cities often see the disparity in reliable internet services since residents are more widely dispersed across the area and internet providers often feel disincentivized to spend the funds necessary to install fiber cables in these areas. According to a study conducted last year by HighSpeedInternet.com, the average internet speed for a resident of Ville Platte registers at just above 8 Mbps. That slow measurement places the city in the bottom five cities nationwide for internet connectivity.

However, Louisiana Rep. Daryl Deshotel plans to change that in the next three years with his proposed piece of legislation that is expected to be approved by Governor John Bel Edwards in the coming weeks. The proposed projectwill reportedly use funds from the American Rescue Plan to bring the infrastructure for high-speed internet to Louisiana’s more rural areas. It will be required that at least 20% of funds will be provided by the regional telecommunication firms who will also provide high-speed internet at affordable prices to residents for at least five years.  It is also expected that the trillion-dollar federal infrastructure plan currently passing through Washington will also serve to distribute additional grants in the future.

The grant program will require internet service providers to offer at least 25 Mbps, which is a speed set by the federal government as a minimum broadband benchmark. With this measurement of internet speed, a family of four would be able to browse the internet and stream movies simultaneously.

Veneeth Iyengar will fund the new grant program as the Executive Director for Governor Edwards’ Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity, and he estimates that it would take a total $1.1 billion investment to bring high-speed internet to every household in Louisiana. The currently proposed $180 million will connect up to 145,000 households and according to Iyenthe, the grant program will “run at an accelerated pace” and distribute up to $90 million in grants by January 2022.

It’s expected that this ambitious, but necessary effort will be aided by an additional $372 million that was awarded to service providers last year by the federal government in an aim to extend broadband coverage to 175,000 households and businesses over the next decade.

The consulting firm McKinsey & Co. estimated recently that 1.6 Louisiana citizens covering 643,000 households are without access to high-speed internet, and nearly half of the state’s total households lack access to internet service that is affordable. As of June 2021, nearly 88,000 residents still benefited from the emergency assistance funds offered by the FCC to cover internet costs during the pandemic.

While it can’t be overstated how vital the need for speedy, dependable internet service is these days, it’s a comfort to know that meaningful strides are being taken to lessen the gaps in broadband service.

For more Louisiana-related articles, click here.