The state Legislative Auditor has taken a look at projects aimed at increasing broadband access in Louisiana recently, and provided an update on the status of more than $1 billion in federal funding aimed to help rural folks connect to the internet.
If you want to read the report for yourself, scroll down.
The auditors looked at three federally-funded broadband expansion programs: the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program, the American Rescue Plan Act Capital Projects Fund (ARPA-CPF) program, and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
"The purpose of this report was to provide information on the broadband expansion programs, evaluate the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s (LPSC) role in designating and re-certifying telecommunication providers that receive RDOF funds, provide information on ConnectLA’s coordination of the expansion and accessibility of broadband services, and identify challenges and opportunities related to broadband expansion," the report states. "We found that it is unclear whether all RDOF providers will meet the service milestones set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC requires RDOF providers to provide broadband service to 40% of their awarded locations by the end of the third calendar year."
The auditors said that as of December 2023, three of the 12 providers in the state still were planning, and approximately 14,500 of the 146,203 RDOF-funded locations had broadband access.
Here's a map from the report, showing the grant amounts for each parish:
Here's what the auditors say they found:
- As of March 2024, the majority of the Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) 1.0 projects were in the planning and execution stages. According to ConnectLA (the state Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity), 12,245 of the 66,351 obligated GUMBO 1.0 locations had been served as of March 2024.
- We also found that LPSC could improve its oversight of RDOF providers by ensuring they comply with the commission’s orders and by reviewing all project information before annually certifying providers.
- We found as well that ConnectLA’s duties include monitoring the 74 GUMBO 1.0 projects, planning and coordinating the BEAD GUMBO 2.0 program, and developing and implementing the state’s digital equity plan. However, ConnectLA’s staffing is lower than recommended by the federal government, and the office is set to close before the GUMBO 2.0 projects are complete.
- Additionally, we found that ConnectLA’s map challenge process ended in January 2024, and the results are awaiting approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Since ConnectLA has already determined locations eligible for GUMBO 2.0 funding, any defaults by Louisiana RDOF providers could result in broadband access gaps in rural areas of the state.
- We found, too, that ConnectLA has primarily addressed ways to reduce statelevel barriers to broadband expansion; however, many of the delays in the development of broadband infrastructure exist at the local level.
Here's the report:
