Written by: State Chamber of Oklahoma Staff

The state legislature passed a major bill that will inject hundreds of millions of federal pandemic relief dollars into broadband development across Oklahoma, including in rural areas where a big broadband boost is much needed. 

Oklahoma broadband infrastructure and development is getting a massive funding surge that is expected to bring it up to speed with the rest of the nation. 

The state legislature passed a major bill that will inject hundreds of millions of federal pandemic relief dollars into broadband development across Oklahoma, including in rural areas where a big broadband boost is much needed.

 “Our hope, not only from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), but also other federal funds, is to deploy somewhere between a $1 billion and $1.5 billion for broadband in the state of Oklahoma,” said Speaker Pro Tempore, Kyle Hilbert, R-District 29. 

Both the State Senate and the State House went into special session Wednesday, Sept. 28 through Thursday, Sept. 29 to vote on a plan to spend the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated to Oklahoma. 

House Bill 1011XX is among the dozens of bills voted on during special session. The bill contains just shy of $500 million for broadband development, including $382,144,000 from the ARPA allocation as well as $167,683,747 from the Capital Projects Fund, an ARPA sub-program under that was established specifically for broadband. 

That money combined with an expected 2023 grant of close to $1 billion will launch Oklahoma’s broadband into the future.

 “That will be the money that will help us finish the broadband infrastructure,” Mike Fina, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Municipal League, said Wednesday. “The bill they pass today and the grant we’ll get next year will be the two pots of money that will help us finish the broadband infrastructure for the state of Oklahoma.” 

The state and its business communities will see massive benefits from the broadband upgrade. 

“For the internet service providers in the state, it’s going to mean hundreds of thousands of new customers,” Fina said. “For our business community in general, providing the fastest broadband available in the entire country will help us be more competitive as we attract businesses to Oklahoma. It will also help current businesses improve their productivity as well.” 

Oklahoma has been substandard in broadband, especially in rural areas, since the earliest years of the digital age. However, that will change thanks to a wide-spanning broadband effort, according to Fina.

 “The program is designed to get us 100 percent coverage of the state. We will be on par with every other state,” Fina said. “This is more of a national effort. The whole country should be on faster and more reliable internet service by the time this project is complete.” 

The state’s broadband expansion is expected to be finished by 2028. 

“Because it’s a federal program there are some time frames that we have to spend the dollars by, but the state legislation that provided this money gives us until 2028 to get this complete,” Fina said.