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President Joe Biden and Sen. Roger Wicker may not agree on much but getting broadband service to every nook and cranny of the United States is a priority for both.
Wicker, along with Sally Doty and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Andy Berke, were at the Two Museums Complex in Jackson Wednesday to announce an $8.4 million grant for broadband for the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
The grant announcement was ahead of a roundtable discussion which included Mississippi broadband internet providers and which gave representatives an opportunity to discuss broadband access challenges and opportunities within the state.
“This is one of the first opportunities for us to make sure broadband (is available) for the entire tribal community,” Wicker said. “This is just one of the investments in broadband that will be brought to the state of Mississippi as part of the 2021 Appropriations Act and part of the bipartisan infrastructure bill which I supported in the U.S. Senate.”
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The ultimate goal is to provide all Americans with the opportunity to have broadband. In Mississippi, Doty, who is the director of the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi, believes getting internet to every single person and every business in Mississippi is an achievable goal in a reasonable amount of time.
“Of course, we can’t say exactly how long this will take, but I feel like we can achieve this goal within five years,” Doty said.
Wicker said the grant is a very important statement from the NTIA and shows the importance of the project.
“President Biden has made a pledge that every American will (have) access to affordable, reliable high-speed internet,” said Berke, who is the former mayor of Chattanooga, where he helped establish fast, cheap and pervasive internet service throughout the city.
“Now, Sen. Wicker is talking about every household in Mississippi will have internet access,” Berke said. “When he says that, he actually takes those words seriously. And those are the same things the president has said.
“It’s not about most people. It’s not about a lot of people. It’s about every Mississippian.”
The $8.4 million will ensure that 2,200 households in the area of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians will be connected. There has been $3 billion total allocation to connect tribal Americans throughout the United States.
“It is our intent to reach all unserved areas in the state. That is what the legislation provides and the BEAM funding is for,” Doty said. “Another part of this is that this is going to create a new workforce that we are going to need to build this out and to be able to maintain it throughout the years. So, there are a lot of opportunities but there is a lot of hard work ahead.”
Berke went on to say that part of the hard work is that Mississippi will have to come up with a plan for what parts of Mississippi will be mapped and serviced.
The roundtable discussion that followed the announcement is part of the beginning of hearing the issues that will come with the project, which is expected to lead to solutions.
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