Arkansas's $1B BEAD broadband moment

In late August, the Arkansas State Broadband Office released the state’s final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, officially opening the plan for public review and comment.

According to the Arkansas State Broadband Office, the state's $1 billion BEAD program represents the largest public broadband investment in Arkansas history. The state's BEAD program garnered a strong response. Arkansas' State Broadband Office received 730 applications from 33 internet service providers (ISPs), and 23 providers were selected by the broadband office for preliminary awards. 

During this Broadband Pulse podcast, we talked to Glen Howie, director of the Arkansas State Broadband Office, about how it will apply the BEAD program to bring broadband to its communities.

Here is a timeline of the episode:

Opening

0:39    Arkansas's Broadband Efforts How state and federal grants like Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) are helping the state expand broadband availability.

2:12    Arkansas's landscape How the state can extend broadband to rural and urban areas.

3:06    Final BEAD proposal for public comment Howie sees BEAD as the true blueprint to achieve universal broadband access across the state.

5:04    BEAD provider diversity Arkansas’s BEAD proposal drew a wide swath of service providers: 29 from Arkansas and 19 from outside the state.

7:55    Navigating BEAD uncertainty Even with the change of the White House administration, Arkansas continued to move with a sense of urgency.

9:26    Sharing BEAD experiences with other states Arkansas continues to talk to other states about its best practices.

9:56    Digital skills training As the state wires more locations with broadband, it is also focusing on helping people acquire digital skills to access and use the service for employment and education opportunities.

14:30 Communicating with communities How the state and the BEAD participants are working with local leaders to provide information on how the BEAD program will impact their communities.

16:55 Final thoughts/wrap up

About our guest Glen Howie is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in both the private and public sectors. A proud native of a small town of about 12,000, he understands the sense of pride and "community" that permeates Main Street USA, as well as the concerns and challenges facing rural Arkansas. In his current role as Director of the Arkansas State Broadband Office, he is leading an "all-of-state" effort to provide "all-of-state" solutions for the "all-of-state" issue of broadband. With a once-in-a-century opportunity to transform the Arkansas economy, Glen's vision, and the Arkansas State Broadband Office's mandate, is to be a leader in the South and a Top Ten state in the country, in all things broadband. Glen earned an undergraduate degree in finance and a master’s degree in public administration from LSU. After he completed the MPA program, he was selected as the recipient of the David B. Johnson Award for Academic Excellence, highlighting his academic achievement, critical analysis of public policy issues, and commitment to improving public management.

About the Podcast  In the Lightwave Broadband Pulse podcast, we address the key issues affecting the optical and broadband industry segments. Join us every week for insights from industry leaders on these topics. Visit our website at www.lightwave.com and our podcast site at www.broadbandpulse.podbean.com.