Washington
Monthly Internet for All Washington State Awareness Webinars
The Washington State Broadband Office (SBO), in partnership with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), implemented a monthly webinar series that ran through December 2023. The webinars provided direct engagement with communities to ensure stronger outcomes on the state and local level. Specifically, they provided updates on the state’s planning process and the federal funding used to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to unserved and underserved communities.
BIP Funding Project
NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) supported the deployment of broadband networks in five of Washington State’s most rural counties: Ferry, Jefferson, Kittitas, Okanogan, and Stevens. The funding will result in approximately an additional 7,196 homes, 210 businesses, and 50 community anchor institutions connected to modern broadband services.
Personnel and Capacity
The SBO, housed within the Washington State Department of Commerce, focused its efforts on building capacity and staff to meet its increased responsibilities for planning and execution.
Outreach Engagement
The Washington SBO instituted outreach efforts to use the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) National Broadband Map and challenge process to represent the number of unserved locations. Washington was allocated $1.23 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding to address the needs of these locations, among other needs.
Connecting Minority Communities
The Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth (OICG) awarded a Connecting Minority Communities (CMC) Pilot Program Grant to the University of Washington’s (UWT) "Connect Across Tacoma: devices, skills, and service expansion for digital equity" project. This project enabled UWT to develop county community plans to address digital divides in Tacoma. Project activities included the distribution of tablets and laptops to students and patrons by the Black Brilliance Research (BBR) team, enrolling households who would not otherwise have home broadband service with Internet subscriptions, training students and patrons as Digital Stewards, and those Digital Stewards completing a 14-week internship to deliver digital literacy training, user support, and broadband adoption support to the broader student and anchor community.