Brookings has a new report (Maximize New Federal Investments in Broadband for Rural America) that makes recommendations to maximize the opportunity that BEAD presents and to close the digital divide…

TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

1. Allow rolling challenges to FCC maps and publish transparent adjudication in a timely manner. Given the mixed historical track record of its maps and the importance of addressing trust deficits and skepticism within communities that are meant to benefit, it is imperative to ensure that the data is unimpeachably credible and builds—rather than potentially undermines—confidence among those stakeholders.
2. Mandate annual reporting, preferably through an easily accessible and navigable website and map, by NTIA (in conjunction with United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB)) that measures progress in reaching people and communities that remain left behind. It will be important for all stakeholders—residents, providers, and state agencies—to have access to the same authoritative community-level data that tracks the progress of BEAD’s implementation in closing gaps. Such reporting should also map these gaps against critical demographic and economic data, including income and poverty, race, and age, to understand the types of communities and people that remain underserved.
3. Create a community advisory committee for NTIA composed of representatives from across the federal government and community stakeholders from across the country. This committee would provide a strong community voice for oversight, help shape and advise annual reporting on what communities remain left behind, and inform NTIA policy and practice.

CAPACITY-BUILDING AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

1. Encourage states to create dedicated funding, staffing, or public-service opportunities to support community engagement for unserved and underserved communities. NTIA should encourage states to invest intentionally in technical assistance for community engagement as they create and submit their five-year plans. Successful community engagement at the local level will inform successful projects and will require intentional financial support to provide capacity, expertise, and coordination to communities.
2. Develop clear guidance for meaningful community engagement. NTIA should require that projects demonstrate effective engagement and develop specific guidance to identify such engagement.
3. Ensure matching requirements are not a barrier for highly vulnerable unserved or underserved communities. As NTIA creates guidance for states on requesting waivers of matching requirements for “high cost” areas, a useful model would be adopting the waivers currently used by USDA’s ReConnect program: Allow a full waiver of matching requirements for projects serving persistent poverty counties and colonia, for communities that are in the bottom 25 percent of the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, and for Alaska Native Corporations and Tribal lands.

 

1. Increase and emphasize support for immediately available solutions that leverage community institutions. NTIA should make clear to states that investment in broadband for community anchor institutions, such as rural libraries and schools, is encouraged and an excellent approach to quickly expanding access.
2. Create statewide multistakeholder councils to guide implementation. States should be encouraged to create advisory committees or councils to guide and provide feedback on implementation.

IMPLEMENTATION

1. Set a high standard for the preference for fiber-optic cable. Doing so would guard against the need for subsequent public investments to keep pace with growing needs. Projects and locations that plan to use an alternative technology should be mandated to provide sufficient feasibility documentation to receive a waiver and clearly describe their ability to support 100/20 Mbps download/upload speeds.
2. Address permitting barriers. Both federal and state governments should recognize and try to address the difficulties that can emanate from complexity associated with construction and land-use permitting, especially across jurisdictional boundaries of different governance entities.
3. Integrate workforce development strategies into broadband implementation projects. Both the federal government and states should seek to maximize the opportunity for leveraging the workforce opportunities that broadband projects will provide. The right mix of outreach, training, incentives, and wraparound services could enable new opportunities for underemployed or unemployed people in local labor markets but will require targeted approaches and investment.