BATON ROUGE, Louisiana โ Today the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) presented a board That shows Louisiana has made more progress than any other state in implementing the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act's $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Implementation (BEAD) program. Louisiana is the only state or territory to have completed 7 of the 8 โmajor milestonesโ for its BEAD application, with the final step being NTIA approval.
"I set a goal of closing Louisiana's digital divide by 2029, and our successful and aggressive pursuit of federal funding for broadband expansion puts us on track to achieve our goal," said Governor John Bel Edwards. โLast year we were the first state to receive funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act for broadband, and now we are leading all other states in our request for significant funding for broadband from this law. Broadband expansion will help our businesses grow, our children learn, and our people access critical health care services. โI would like to thank Veneeth Iyengar, who leads our Broadband Office, as well as President Joe Biden, Senator Bill Cassidy, and U.S. Representative Troy Carter for supporting the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act that made these funds available.โ
Louisiana is expected to receive $1.35 billion from the BEAD program, which will help connect 200,000 locations to broadband service. Louisiana's Broadband Opportunity for Underserved Municipalities (GUMBO) program has already successfully funded the expansion of broadband to 70,000 homes, businesses, schools and other locations.
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