Funding fiber broadband: The path to growing communities

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) presents communities with the ability to build broadband infrastructure that has been shown to deliver substantial and long-lasting economic benefits by creating jobs and attracting businesses as well as improving the quality of life for the people who live there. Local leaders need to be proactive and engaged in working with state broadband offices and community stakeholders as the process of planning these networks begins.

A decade ago, the city of Chattanooga, Tenn., secured federal funding to become the first “Gigabit city,” building a fiber broadband network to every household and business in town. An independent study conducted by the University of Tennessee said this investment directly supported the creation and retention of more than 9,500 jobs in Hamilton County, accounting for about 40 percent of all jobs created during the time period, with $2.6 billion in total economic benefits delivered by the fiber network to date.

Recent studies sponsored by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) have shown similar high-impact and lasting economic benefits in different areas across the country. Douglas County, Oregon’s fiber network generates $28 million in revenue or savings each year, providing reduced costs to city government, better education and health care, and affordable high-speed broadband for local businesses. Westfield, Mass., has realized more than $88 million annually in job-related benefits from the installation of its fiber network, which has created more than 4,600 work-from-home jobs for a city of 41,000 people, brought businesses into the area, provided broadband to the public school system and increased home property values.

Communities around the country will have the opportunity to see similar job creation and other benefits through the IIJA’s Broadband Equity, Access and Development (BEAD) program, with $42.5 billion on the table for projects to build the broadband networks of tomorrow for unserved and underserved areas. States and territories are now in the process of submitting BEAD funding applications to NTIA to invest in their communities and close the digital divide.

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