NTIA Unveils Winners of Middle-Mile Infrastructure Grants
The Biden administration announced $930 million in grants Friday to expand middle-mile high-speed internet infrastructure as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (see 2111120050). NTIA said 260 applicants submitted funding requests of more than $7.47 billion.
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The approved projects will deploy more than 12,000 miles of fiber that will pass within 1,000 feet of 6,961 community anchor institutions, NTIA said. Those receiving grants agreed to invest an additional $848.46 million of outside matching funding in the projects. The grants varied from $2.7 million to $88.8 million, with an average of $26.6 million, NTIA said. The projects cover more than 350 counties in 35 states and Puerto Rico, the agency said.
“Today, in 2023, here in America millions of people across the country still lack access to a high-speed internet connection,” said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, during a press briefing. Davidson said NTIA is on track to announce this month each state’s funding allocation under the $42.5 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment program, also created by the infrastructure act. “The states have a big homework assignment -- they’re working on it now,” he said: “We’ve given planning grants to all of the states to work on their plans.”
Broadband maps are critical to identifying needs and the last maps released by the FCC at the end of May (see 2305300050) appear to be “substantially improved” over earlier versions, Davidson said. “We’ve heard very positive things from a lot of the states about their challenges being addressed and their concerns being addressed,” he said. The FCC is still making final changes, “but this is a much more accurate map than anything we have ever had before, and it’s a map that we can use confidently to make allocations,” he said.
The outer limit for completing the middle-mile projects is five years and many should be done sooner, Davidson said. The hope is many will be combined with other spending approved by NTIA, he said. One criterion looked at was the length of time proposed to complete the build, he said.
“President Biden believes that when we invest in America, when we invest in ourselves, and in our infrastructure, there’s literally nothing that we cannot do,” said Mitch Landrieu, special adviser to the president. The middle-mile is comparable to regional highways, or in some cases the interstate road system, he said.
“These networks are the workhorses, carrying large amounts of data over very long distances,” Landrieu said: “They’re the ones that are bridging the gap between the larger networks and the last-mile connections. … Not only can these networks reduce the spending required for last-mile deployments, but they can improve network resilience in the face of the climate crisis and increasing natural disasters … by creating multiple routes for the internet traffic to use.” Middle-mile networks also help reduce the costs of service, he said.
Among examples cited by Landrieu, the Dairyland Power Co-op received $14.9 million for the Tri-State Fiber Deployment Project, covering parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, retrofitting 240.23 miles of fiber cable using mostly optical ground wire. Blackfoot Telephone Co-op got $11.7 million to deploy 137 miles of new middle-mile fiber in remote western Montana. In West Virginia, Appalachian Power got $25 million to deploy networks providing connections in five counties that lag behind much of the nation on broadband availability, based on FCC data.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) applauded a $61 million grant for her state’s Peninsula Fiber Network. The funding will let PFN place 535 miles of middle-mile fiber through unserved and underserved parts of the state, Whitmer’s office said. Eric Frederick, Michigan High-Speed Internet Office chief connectivity officer, said “this crucial grant will address the unique middle mile fiber needs of our two-peninsula state and … significantly aid in the success of the BEAD program to achieve affordable, reliable high-speed internet for all Michiganders.”
A $43 million grant for Kansas “will set up the infrastructure needed to reach 27,000 more homes and provide opportunities for economic success across the state,” said Gov. Laura Kelly (D). The grant will fund a 682-mile fiber optic network, the governor's office said. Broadband Development Director Jade Piros de Carvalho said the award “will open up opportunities for remote operations throughout Kansas and help drive commerce in previously underserved areas.”