Southcentral Kentucky has an unprecedented opportunity to expand rural broadband, if local communities act now, according to speakers at a regional broadband symposium hosted Thursday by the Barren River Area Development District.

The results of broadband feasibility studies for the 10-county region overseen by BRADD were presented by Glenn Fishbine, co-founder of Breaking Point Solutions. Fishbine showed the audience of local officials and stakeholders maps highlighting the location of unserved and underserved households and businesses, as well as figures and models suggesting potential solutions.

The objective of the feasibility studies is to provide counties detailed data to use when applying for federal grant funds, which are highly competitive.

“What we’re trying to do is find out where in your county the opportunities exist, and how much can you propose asking for in terms of the grant application and then who are your partners in going for that money,” Fishbine said.

Historically, Kentucky has not been as competitive in these applications, not because there isn’t a great need for broadband infrastructure and expansion, but because there hasn’t been enough data, said Eric Sexton, BRADD executive director.

After the pandemic forced more people to work and attend school from home, broadband expansion became even more of a priority, said Scott Surber, broadband technology liaison at the Somerset Center for Rural Development.

“The pandemic revealed just how inadequate broadband was throughout almost all our counties,” Surber said. “We need to switch our thinking and start to talk about broadband in terms of the utility. It is like water, and it is like electricity and it is a necessity more than just streaming Netflix or playing a game.”

The pandemic also pushed the federal government to adopt new measures for broadband expansion. Instead of its historical top-down initiatives, the government is handing the reins to states and local governments to decide where the need is and how to address it.

Brian Mefford, vice president of VETRO’s broadband strategy, said the historical approach was flawed because it was not focused on the realities on the ground. He added that now, with multiple pools of federal money coming down the pike for broadband expansion, it is more important than ever to act.

“ … There’s never been this kind of money available for broadband before ever, and there’s not going to be ever again,” Mefford said. “Really, the funding that we’re looking at today is similar to what the funding was for rural electrification back in the ’30s and ’40s.”

The bulk of federal funds for broadband infrastructure and expansion are coming from three different pools.

First, the bipartisan infrastructure bill created the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program and the State Digital Equity Act to provide money to underserved areas through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

The $42.5 billion BEAD Program pool will automatically give each state $100 million to start, but to receive additional broadband funding, local governments must apply for grants. If states submit letters of intent by the July 18 deadline, they will have about nine months to develop detailed five-year action plans using updated FCC broadband coverage maps to receive the BEAD funds.

The State Digital Equity Act has $1.5 billion to allocate, and state’s letters of intent are due July 12.

Second, the American Rescue Plan Act also gives states a pool of money that could be used to expand broadband. As part of ARPA, Kentucky was allocated $2.2 billion to replace lost public service revenue, help households and businesses recover from the pandemic’s economic impact and invest in water, sewer and broadband infrastructure.

An additional $182 million has been earmarked for Kentucky to spend on infrastructure projects through ARPA’s Capital Projects Fund. The deadline for states to submit grant plans, including capital projects’ budgets and timelines, is Sept. 24.

Third, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund created by the FCC launched a reverse auction to attract the least expensive internet service providers to connect rural areas to broadband in unserved areas over the next decade. In the first phase of the program, Kentucky was assigned $138 million in support by 11 winning bidders, including CCO Holdings LLC, Rural Electric Cooperative Consortium and Tennessee Cooperative Group Consortium.

Navigating these disparate sources of money can be challenging, said Heather Gate, vice president of digital inclusion at Connected Nation. She suggested hiring a dedicated team, and taking the process one grant at a time.

“It’s a lot of money and a lot of work and somebody needs to be very effective in navigating programs,” Gate said. “States have some control over their future, which means that they are going to have a lot of work to do.”