Tennessee receives $813M from federal government to expand broadband access

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Tennessee hopes to expand broadband access to all unserved and underserved areas of the state by 2028 with the help of $813 million from the federal government through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

The Tennessee Dept. of Economic and Community Development (TDECD) announced Monday its proposal to spend $813 million of the federal funds to expand broadband access was approved.

While Tennessee has invested more than $715 million in state and federal funds during Gov. Bill Lee ‘s time as governor to bridge the digital divide, according to the Federal Communications Commission, roughly one in ten Tennesseans still don’t have access to broadband internet, mainly in rural areas.

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“Internet service providers, a lot of times, have gone to those more urban, and then suburban, and then a lot of times the rural communities have gotten left out,” Taylre Beaty, the broadband director for the TDECD told News 2 in May 2024.

The $813 million Tennessee is set to receive was funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021.

While multiple Republicans in Congress voted for the Infrastructure Act, both TN Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and TN Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) voted against it, despite advocating for broadband expansion.

“It is a lot of things on the Green New Deal, there is $160 billion in new fees, and what we know from Tennesseans is they want to see money for roads and bridges and highways, for rivers and ports, for runways and railways and for broadband,” Blackburn said in Aug. 2021.

However, state Sen. Shane Reeves (R-Murfreesboro) told News 2 in May he didn’t know why anyone wouldn’t accept the funding.

“It would be like someone telling me that we’ve decided because the federal government is going to play a role in subsidizing electricity or water or roads or waste management, you’re going to say, ‘No,'” Sen. Reeves said. “ [Broadband access] is a fundamental part of life.”

Dr. Sreedhar Upendram, a University of Tennessee associate professor in the Dept. of Agriculture and Resource Economics, has conducted extensive research on broadband access in the state since 2017, while also employing programs and securing grant funding to expand it.

Upendram told News 2 while there is enough funding and resources to expand broadband access, the process will require patience due to some anticipated challenges.

“We need to realize, especially in remote areas, rural areas, putting out fiberoptic cable, it is laborious; it is a time-consuming process,” Upendram said. “You also have to get easements, you need to get right-of-ways, and those take time.”

In addition, Upendram learned through one of his programs that provides hotspots to people in East Tennessee that even when everyone in the state gains broadband access, it doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will be able to afford it.

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“What we found out [through the hotspot program] was most of these folks who were accessing the devices had maybe a high school education or a GED, making about $25,000, $50,000; that was it, so affordability is an issue and accessibility because there was not good signal strength,” Upendram added.

According to the TDECD, before 2021, more than 20% of TN lacked access to high-speed internet. Now, the FCC says 5.3% of the state lacks high-speed internet access.

The state will open grant applications for the $813 million under the BEAD Program in November.

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