The University of Georgia’s Broadband Availability Map has helped guide the state in awarding millions of dollars in grants to service providers and local governments to carry out broadband expansion work throughout Georgia. The map was created by the UGA Institute of Government as part of the state’s expansion initiative, which launched in 2018.
When federal funds started becoming available for broadband expansion, the map put Georgia ahead of the data curve, which led to more funding for the state, aided providers with the application process and put the grant money to work faster. UGA has helped the state distribute $660 million in grant awards since 2021, and the recent roll out of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will bring another $1.3 billion to Georgia.
“We’ve been able to direct dollars more efficiently and more effectively than any other state,” says Eric McRae, associate director of Information Technology Outreach Services at the UGA Institute of Government. “Those efficiencies were built from the very beginning because of the way the state of Georgia approached this project and the idea that we were going to be transparent and open with the providers. There was this level of openness that other states didn’t have, and some states are just now realizing that.”
Jessica Simmons, executive director of the Georgia Broadband Program at the Georgia Technology Authority, said UGA has been instrumental in helping the state make data-driven decisions in the appropriation of broadband expansion grants.
The map, which went live in June of 2020 and was updated earlier this summer, provides data to the Georgia Technology Authority showing which projects overlap each other and which overlap with federal funding. This information also allows providers to submit a grant application that does not include overlapping areas or locations that already are served, making it more likely to be approved and maximizing the dollars being awarded.
The map has helped add 285,057 newly-served locations across Georgia over the past three years, and reduced the percentage of unserved locations from 10.1% in 2020 to 4.8% as of June 2023.
The state defines high-speed service as a minimum of 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up in speed. Unlike maps originally produced by the Federal Communications Commission, which consider a census block served if only one address has access to broadband, the UGA map identifies unserved and underserved locations down to the address. That has been especially helpful to the state in challenging a location to determine whether it’s eligible for federal funding. Data from UGA’s broadband map helps the state challenge the FCC map over a location being served or unserved.
The challenge process improves the accuracy of data and maximizes the state’s funding.
“There’s so much data that has to be analyzed and interpreted, and that’s really where UGA has been a huge asset to us,” says Simmons.
The state will use the broadband map to deploy the BEAD money starting in 2024. With matching funds from providers, the program funding is expected to reach nearly $2 billion, according to McRae.
“Obviously refreshing our map is great, but really the extensive work that the Institute of Government has done in helping us make data-driven decisions for the work that we did to award the Capital Projects Fund grants, and challenge the FCC map, and then also all of the preparation and work that they’re doing to help us get ready for our largest program yet has been crucial,” says Simmons.
The Carl Vinson Institute of Government empowers citizens and governments by providing innovative resources and tools that build stronger communities, inspire economic success, and improve quality of life throughout the state of Georgia and beyond.
