Elizabeth Tanner serves as Rhode Island’s secretary of commerce. She previously served as director of the Department of Business Regulation.
Access to reliable and affordable high-speed internet is no longer a luxury; it’s a modern-day necessity. It’s critical not only for economic development, but also for educational opportunities, health care and overall quality of life. That’s why the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation is undertaking record investments of over $133 million from the federal Capital Projects Fund, and the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to strengthen our broadband infrastructure across the state.
It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that has been made possible, in addition to our federal agency partners, thanks to the efforts of our congressional delegation, Gov. Dan McKee, our General Assembly, the board of directors for Commerce, Commerce’s broadband team, the Broadband Advisory Council, and many stakeholders throughout our state.
Jamestown, Newport, and Westerly were selected as the first CPF project areas based on, among other things, hundreds of thousands of speed tests to best understand the capacity of networks and the speeds experienced by residents and businesses across the state. Our rigorous methodology, which led to those communities being selected as the first of many, was approved by Treasury. And while it is true that those communities have some affluent neighborhoods, they also have significant broadband deficits that must be addressed.
Investment in these three communities is just the beginning. In July, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved Rhode Island’s BEAD Plan. The program intends to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning and infrastructure deployment across the state – and, if funds remain, digital equity efforts. Rhode Island received an allocation of $108.7 million. National Telecommunications and Information Administration requires that all states focus first on infrastructure to our unserved (service of less than 25/3Mbps) and underserved (service between 25/3Mbps and 100/20Mbps) locations.
All municipalities with unserved or underserved locations will see investments to help close the digital divide and keep the state competitive. Rhode Islanders deserve access to reliable high-speed internet and no resident, whatever their financial situation, should have to pay for broadband infrastructure upgrades that will ensure they have access to critical modern-day needs. It’s what the federal programs require and what Commerce will deliver.
The approval of our plans for these investments are the culmination of nearly two years of thoughtful, strategic and participatory planning with input from the state’s Broadband Advisory Council and stakeholders across Rhode Island. Subsidies, like the Affordable Connectivity Program which expired on June 1, are not an eligible use of program funds.
Treasury and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved Commerce’s plans only after painstaking scrutiny to ensure our approach was fair, thorough, supported by evidence, and consistent with program rules.
As we move forward with these important infrastructure projects, Commerce looks forward to collaborating with all partners who share the McKee administration’s goal of a fully connected and digitally inclusive state.
To view Rhode Island’s first broadband map, please visit ri.broadbandnavigator.com