A recently passed federal infrastructure spending package will allocate $1.2 billion from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to the state. The BEAD program is intended to develop broadband networks in eligible states to give more people access to quality internet.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker voted in favor of the bill and celebrated the BEAD funding on Twitter, saying it would be a great boost for economic development.
“This broadband announcement today is a massive investment in bringing Mississippians from small towns and rural communities into the world wide web,” he said. “This is the reason I fought so hard in the bipartisan Infrastructure Act.”
Wicker and Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson were the only two members of Congress from Mississippi to vote in favor of the spending package.
The recently implemented Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi office will allocate the funds through grants.
Formerly, the Mississippi Public Service Commission handled internet access. Commission Chairman Dane Maxwell says the BEAD funding will change the lives of those without internet access.
“This is going to help them so much… it really does transform their lives,” he said. “People just can't believe when you say, ‘high-speed internet,’ you really mean high-speed internet… it's too good to be true to a lot of them.”
The funding is projected to impact approximately 300,000 unserved and 200,000 under-served locations throughout Mississippi.
