Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper welcomed the announcement that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved Colorado’s proposal to invest more than $420 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding in affordable, high-speed internet. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is the largest broadband investment in American history, and provides funding to build essential infrastructure and connect communities to high-speed internet. The BEAD program is based on Bennet’s bipartisan BRIDGE Act.
“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s BEAD program, based on my bipartisan BRIDGE Act, will bring high-speed internet to communities across Colorado, helping close the digital divide and ensuring every Coloradan can participate in the 21st century economy,” said Bennet. “We must build upon this important funding announcement – I will continue pushing to ensure that the full $826 million allocation is made available to connect Coloradans to affordable, high-speed internet.”
“We wrote the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to connect every American to high-speed, affordable, and reliable internet,” said Hickenlooper. “This funding will unlock better access to health care, greater work opportunities, and more connected lives for thousands of Coloradans. We’re disappointed that the millions of dollars in potential budget cuts to the program could leave behind thousands of families and small businesses.”
Following NTIA’s revised policy guidance, Colorado’s new BEAD proposal request was for a partial amount of the originally allocated $826 million dollars the state received in 2023. Bennet and Hickenlooper will continue to work to ensure that the full allocation is made available to Colorado. Bennet recently led the Colorado Democratic delegation in a letter to the NTIA Administrator supporting Colorado’s application to retain its full allocation. Over the summer, Bennet and Hickenlooper condemned Secretary Lutnick’s decision to ask states to reapply for BEAD funding.
The BEAD program provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states and territories. The program prioritizes unserved and underserved locations that have no or very slow internet access.
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