Federal Funding
BroadbandUSA’s Federal Funding site connects you to funding opportunities that support broadband planning, digital inclusion, and deployment projects. The site allows you to filter programs by Agency/Department, Eligible Recipients, and/or Program Purpose by using the filter options on the left.
In November 2021, President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law and provided $65 billion for broadband. While these new funding opportunities are included in the federal funding website, additional information about the investment in high-speed internet can be found in the White House's Guidebook to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and on InternetForAll.gov. For information on state broadband programs and contact information for state-level broadband leaders please visit NTIA's state resources page.
This site is updated with information provided by federal agencies and the Federal Communications Commission as new funding becomes available. Information included in the Federal Funding site can be downloaded in PDF and spreadsheet formats as well as an Interactive Guide. Feedback on the site and its resources is always welcome. Please contact BroadbandUSA@ntia.doc.gov to provide input.
Please note: on mobile devices, filtering options may be found near the bottom of the page below the table of information.
The FCC’s Emergency Connectivity Fund Program (Program) provides funding for schools and libraries for the purchase, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, of connected devices and broadband connections for use by students, school staff, and library patrons for primarily educational purposes while they are at locations other than schools and libraries. Support provided through the Program reimburses eligible schools and libraries for purchases of eligible equipment, including Wi-Fi hotspots, modems, routers, and connected devices, as well as advanced telecommunications and information services, to meet the remote learning needs of students, school staff, and library patrons who would otherwise lack access to connected devices and broadband connections sufficient to engage in remote learning during the upcoming school year. The FCC has designated the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) as the Administrator of the Program.
The federal universal service high-cost program is designed to ensure that consumers in rural, insular, and high-cost areas have access to modern communications networks capable of providing voice and broadband service, both fixed and mobile, at rates that are reasonably comparable to those in urban areas. The program fulfills this universal service goal by allowing eligible carriers who serve these areas to recover some of their costs from the federal Universal Service Fund.
The Lifeline program provides a discount on phone and broadband service for qualifying low-income households to ensure that all Americans have the opportunities and security that those services bring, including being able to connect to jobs, family, and emergency services.
The Rural Health Care (RHC) Program provides funding to eligible public or non-profit health care providers for broadband and telecommunications services necessary for the provision of health care. RHC Program support is provided on a funding year basis. The RHC Program has an annual funding cap, which is adjusted for inflation each year. The cap for funding year 2023 is $682.4 million. The RHC Program provides funding through two programs: the Telecommunications (Telecom) Program and the Healthcare Connect Fund Program. The Telecom Program, established in 1997, seeks to ensure that rural health care providers pay no more than their urban counterparts for eligible telecommunications services. Specifically, an applicant’s program support is based on the difference between rural rates charged for telecommunications services in the rural area where the health care provider is located, and the urban rates charged for similar telecommunications services in the State. The rural health care provider pays only the urban rate for the telecommunications service, and the USF pays the difference between the urban rate and rural rate for the service to the service provider. The Healthcare Connect Fund Program, established in 2012, provides a flat 65% discount on an array of communications services to both individual rural health care providers and consortia, which can include non-rural health care providers (if the consortium has a majority of rural sites). These services include Internet access, dark fiber leases, business data, traditional DSL, and private carriage services, among others, along with funding for construction of health care provider-owned communications facilities. With the Healthcare Connect Fund Program, the Commission intended to promote the use of broadband services, recognizing the increasing need for rural health care providers to have access to specialists who are often located in urban areas, as well as the advent of certain communications-based trends in healthcare delivery, such as the move towards electronic health records.
The Grants to States program supports library initiatives and services to meet the needs of children, parents, teenagers, adult learners, senior citizens, the unemployed, the business community, and members of the current and future library workforce. Funds are distributed according to a population-based formula and may be used to provide access to electronic databases, computer instruction, homework centers, summer reading programs, digitization of special collections, access to e-books and adaptive technology, broadband connectivity, bookmobile service, development of outreach programs to the underserved, and related efforts. Priorities are established by each State Library Administrative Agency and are detailed in state-specific Five-Year Plans (see https://www.imls.gov/grants/grants-state/five-year-plans).
The National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program (NLG-L) supports projects that address critical needs of the library and archives fields and have the potential to advance practice and strengthen library and archival services for the American public. Successful proposals will generate results such as new models, tools, research findings, services, practices, and/or alliances that can be widely used, adapted, scaled, or replicated to extend and leverage the benefits of federal investment.
Native American Library Services Basic Grants focus on improving core library services for learning and accessing information in a variety of formats and enhancing the skills of the current library workforce and leadership through training, continuing education, and opportunities for professional development
Native American Library Services Enhancement Grants is a competitive grant program. Successful proposals are structured to result in improved digital services, improved educational programs related to specific topics and content areas of interest to library patrons and community-based users; and enhanced preservation and revitalization of Native American cultures and languages.
Native Hawaiian Library Services Grants focus on improving digital services, improving educational programs, and enhancing the preservation and revitalization of Native Hawaiian culture and language.
The State and Economic & Infrastructure Development (SEID) Program funds economic development and infrastructure projects throughout designated counties in the NBRC's four-state service area. The NBRC provides investments to job-creating projects that help reduce poverty, unemployment, and outmigration, within 7 statutorily defined funding areas.