Following President Biden’s announcement of his Build Back Better Act framework, legislative text of the $1.75 trillion tax and spending package was released by House Democrats last Thursday. It ear more than $1 billion in funding for broadband, including:
- $100 million for the FCC to educate the public about the various broadband programs
- $295 million to NTIA for pilot projects for public private partnerships to increase access to broadband in urban areas including for communities of color and lower and middle income communities. It includes $5M for an advisory committee to
- $475 million to NTIA for a broadband device program and $5M to educate the public on the availability of the grant
- $300 million for the FCC’s existing Emergency Connectivity Fund
- $470 million for NG911
- $7 million for the Secretary of Commerce to create a Future of Telecommunications Council to advise Congress on the development and adoption of 6G and other advanced wireless communications technologies
The funding is being made available from unappropriated Treasury funding. You can review the bill section-by-section
here.