Rural

Mississippi Addresses Allegations of Inequitable Outreach in BEAD

A local watchdog organization has accused the Mississippi broadband office of failing to comply with BEAD program guidelines.

Jericho Casper

Apr 15, 2024 — 6 min read

Photo of Sally Doty, director for the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi office.

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2024 – The Mississippi broadband office is responding to allegations raised by a legal organization that claims the state is failing to conduct equitable local coordination and outreach with underrepresented communities in preparation of allocating $1.2 billion to expand broadband infrastructure.

The Mississippi Center for Justice is alleging that the state office did not include “strategies to address the state’s racial disparities in broadband access” in the state’s initial Volume 1 proposal prepared for the Broadband, Equity Access and Deployment program. The group further contends that the office has not engaged with “diverse stakeholder groups, specifically the incarcerated community,” which represents 1 percent of Mississippi’s population.

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