12 Days of Broadband

12 Days: For State Broadband Offices, 2023 Was All About BEAD

All 56 states and territories have released for comment their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment proposals.

Jake Neenan

Dec 26, 2023 — 4 min read

Illustration by DALL-E

December 26, 2023 – The Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act’s landmark $42.5 billion broadband expansion effort was front and center in the broadband world in 2023.

The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program got closer to breaking ground as maps were finalized, allocations were made, and states got to work drafting and refining their proposals for implementing the program.

The 12 Days of Broadband 2023 (click to open)

On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
One Artificial General Intelligence
On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
24 Reverse-Preemption Pole Attachment States (2023 edition)
On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
$3.6 Billion Funds Remaining in the Affordable Connectivity Program
On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
4.8 Million Challenges to Broadband Coverage Data
On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
56 States and Territorial Broadband Offices Implementing BEAD
On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
One-hundred-and 66 Billion Dollars of American Semiconductor Investment
On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
7 Layers to the Open Systems Interconnection Model and Open Access Networks
On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
The Number 8 As a Representation of Balance, Justice and Fairness
On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
93 Percent Match of Federal Funds for Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Program
On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
Nearly 10 Months Without FCC Spectrum Auction Authority
On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
More Than 11 Years in Lawsuits Over Net Neutrality
On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:
12 Year Olds (and Older) Having to Age-Verify on Social Media

Mapping was a central concern early in the year, as states pushed the Federal Communications Commission for more time to contest its coverage data. The commission had released the initial version of its broadband map in November 2022, and the updated version would be used by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to determine relative need among states and territories and make final BEAD allocations.