In March and November of 2021, Congress passed laws providing about $75 billion to expand broadband in areas of the US that either do not have it or have it inadequately, in Congress’s view. The $75 billion is to be spent over the next few years through numerous programs involving the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the US Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS), the US Department of Treasury, state governments, and local governments. These government institutions will be busy in 2023 spending some of this money and setting up processes for spending the rest. 

We know there will be problems. What we do not know is the extent to which government officials will address them. We know from research and experience that the processes NTIA, RUS, and the Treasury are putting in place are quite inefficient. Indeed, the last time these processes were used—the more than $7 billion authorized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—resulted in almost no broadband expansion, according to scholars and the Government Accountability Office. Why? The processes enabled political favoritism in contracting, had weak accountability mechanisms, lacked transparency, and allowed applicants for funding to avoid competing on price. Left unchecked, these features will remain in place through 2023 and beyond, with obvious consequences for broadband expansion. And it would be years before the waste would be made known to the public.

I should mention that under former President Donald Trump, RUS took steps to fix its problems. The year 2023 will provide a test for these new procedures. So far, it has been hard to get information from RUS.

There will be an effort in 2023 to shine lights on these problems—with these processes being implemented by NTIA, RUS, the Treasury, and state and local governments—and to offer public officials means for giving taxpayers more broadband bang for their buck. Some officials will accept this challenge, but it remains to be seen how much momentum they will gain.

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