Twenty-three more Tribal entities have been awarded more than $600 million in the latest round of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative, according to a press release published on Oct. 11.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan announced that applications are now open for $95 million in funding to expand high-speed internet access across the state. The funding will be part of the Connect Maryland Network Infrastructure Grant Program. The Connect Maryland initiative is designed to expand the state’s investment in broadband and help close the digital divide.

New York City launched a new digital equity program, called “Big Apple Connect,” on Sept. 19 that will provide free high-speed internet and basic cable TV to about 300,000 New Yorkers living in more than 200 New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments by the end of 2023.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has announced $206 million dollars in grant funding that will help expand internet access to 69 different counties in North Carolina.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on August 31 that the agency is preparing to provide $791 million of new funding for state broadband buildouts through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced $143.6 million in funds awarded from the Internet for All Initiative’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) to Tribes in California and Washington.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said on August 17 that all 50 states, along with the District of Columbia and all U.S. territories, have filed applications for initial planning funds under the government’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program that aims to distribute $42.4 billion of broadband-related grants to underserved or unserved communities.

Legislation recently introduced in the Senate aims to create a Federal grant system to help fund the construction of new broadband networks in parts of the country that either don’t have much broadband service currently available or that have service speeds of less than 100 megabits per second (Mbps) upload and 20 Mbps download.

Reps. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., have joined with Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., to introduce the Proper Leadership to Align Networks (PLAN) for Broadband Act, which calls on President Biden to develop a national broadband strategy.

While the Biden administration is pushing hard to increase broadband service access across the country, the White House needs to come up with a national strategy to do so on tribal lands where broadband access has traditionally lagged, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a new report.