State, Federal Funding Available to Provide Broadband Access to Affordable Housing Units

Having access to reliable high-speed internet is essential today. Yet, many people who live in affordable housing communities aren’t connected – even when that housing is located in major cities.

A Pew Research study found that 43% of adults who have a household income of $30,000 or less don’t have access to high-speed internet. Those numbers are even worse for people with lower income.

The problem of a lack of connectivity isn’t just about a person’s financial situation, though. Many people who live in public housing units and could afford high-speed service simply can’t get it.

A big reason for this is that half of all public housing units were constructed before 1975, and only 17% of them have been updated since 1997. Many of these units either have outdated wiring systems that can’t support high-speed internet, or they simply don’t have wiring at all.

And while HUD in 1997 began requiring that all new construction have broadband installed, that does nothing to solve the problems of the already-existing units.

As the world advances with the increased usage of technology that only runs on high-speed internet, people who live in affordable housing units get left further and further behind.

Some states are recognizing just how dire the problem has gotten, and are getting creative about launching new programs and providing new funding so the proper affordable rental housing upgrades can be completed to support high-speed internet access.

Using Federal Pandemic Funds

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, states received federal funding to support a number of initiatives.

The CARES Act, passed in March of 2020, allowed Virginia to fund five different projects focused on bringing high-speed internet to low-income houses. One such project gave more than 700 affordable and subsidized units access to high-speed Wifi.

The American Rescue Plan, passed in March of 2021, allocated $10 billion to a Capital Projects Fund, through which states could improve broadband connectivity for people living in low-income multi-family housing units. Connecticut is using $40.8 million from this fund for a broadband access plan that kicks off this year.

There are many more examples of ways that states have used funding allocated from the various federal relief programs to ensure low-income households have access to high-speed internet.

State-Specific Initiatives

Some states have gone a step further, creating their own programs to boost high-speed connectivity.

Over the last two years, Rhode Island’s housing finance agency awarded $700,000 in grants that provided high-speed internet to low-income households both in their units and in community rooms on the property.

California created a completely separate public housing account within its Advanced Services Fund that’s dedicated solely to awarding grants focused on broadband planning, infrastructure and adoption. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year alone, that account received $15 million.

And many more states are still working on programs that would fund broadband advancement.

Variety of Approaches to Similar Challenge

While the general challenge of a lack of high-speed internet may be similar throughout the country, the way that states are approaching it is quite different. This could be for a variety of reasons, from where one state’s affordable housing units are located, to how much money another state has in its own coffers to dedicate to connectivity programs.

Any way you slice it, though, it’s apparent that both federal and state funding is available to help low-income households get the high-speed internet access they need. The onus now is on the organizations that run the affordable housing units – and the developers who help serve them – to research, discover and access those funds.

Elauwit, a boutique national telecom services company that serves affordable housing units from coast to coast, understands the challenges in providing high-speed internet services to underserved communities.

“At Elauwit, we believe that every person deserves access to affordable high-speed internet service, regardless of how much they make or where they live,” Elauwit CEO Barry Rubens said. “That’s why we work closely with affordable housing communities and developers to provide residents with the connectivity that they not only want but need to power their lives in today’s world.”

Contact us today to learn more about how you can leverage available federal and state funding to provide residents at your affordable housing community with high-speed internet access.