What is broadband?
Broadband (broad bandwidth) is any connection that allows data to move quickly from the internet to your device. Think of it as an internet pipeline, much like a water or gas pipeline. In Louisiana, we define broadband as connections with minimum speeds of 100 megabits per second download (when data loads from the internet to your computer or device) and 20 megabits per second upload (when you send data from your computer or device out to the internet).
What are the different types of ways to be "connected"?
Today, there are many different types of networks that provide connectivity across the country. Some are excellent options for high-speed broadband, while others may provide lacking or intermittent service. Below are descriptions:
Fiber-optic connections utilize glass cables that transmit data through pulses of light with connectivity that can reach blistering speeds. Each fiber is smaller than a human hair and bundled into strands that make up one cable.
As a leading innovative technology of the 20th century, fiber connections have facilitated the modern development of our world. Today, fiber networks connect almost every location on earth to internet infrastructure and can support speeds and reliability that are far superior to other connection types.
Cable connections use coaxial connections that providers used to broadcast cable television signals. This type of network infrastructure is susceptible to network congestion and slower speeds, especially during peak usage times.
Fixed wireless transmits a signal from a tower in one location to an antenna on your home or business. All fixed wireless internet connections require a direct line of sight, so if there are hills, trees, buildings or other obstacles nearby, they can distort your connection. In addition, weather can play into connectivity issues, but not nearly as bad as what could be experienced with a satellite internet connection.
Cellular wireless uses your cellular carrier to connect your router or hotspot to the cellular tower nearest you, just like it does with your phone. Speeds vary based on how close you are to a tower but are likely to be faster than with a fixed wireless connection. Download speeds vary depending on the cellular carrier, location of access and other factors, such as network congestion. Also, data usage and speed can be limited if you don't have a cellular plan that offers unlimited data access.
Why Is broadband important?
Access to high-speed internet service through the expansion of broadband in Louisiana allows all residents and businesses the same opportunities and connectivity as those living in major cities. Our rural communities deserve the same level of access to high-speed internet, which is a critical piece of our state's infrastructure.
By expanding broadband connectivity throughout our state, we can further ignite economic growth and help ensure our local communities can remain competitive and thrive in today's economy.
What are the benefits of broadband?
With the expansion of faster internet connections throughout the state, many benefits are realized as more residents are connected. Here are just a few examples of how broadband connectivity can benefit our state's citizens and businesses.
Better connections allow classroom walls to expand, enhancing students and teachers' educational experience by improving access to resources and allowing children to participate in distance learning when needed.
Access to broadband is an indispensable reliance that allows police and fire departments to protect the public, respond quickly and provide effective early warnings for necessary alerts, incident response and disaster recovery.
Improved connectivity enables businesses to be more productive and profitable. It also allows local communities to attract and retain top talent and businesses by allowing competition and opportunity across local, national and global markets.
Faster connections afford better access to clinical services and further improve rural healthcare outcomes by adding capabilities for providers to improve cost-effective access to quality health care. Remote health care also allows physicians to be vigilant in providing real time feedback for better overall patient health.
With a proper broadband connection at home, Louisiana's employment possibilities expand with the ability to seek remote work opportunities which allow for employment without worrying about commutes and travel costs.
Streaming video and music, online gaming or connecting with family and friends through social media are only possible with access broadband.
Broadband can be a great tool to address needs of individuals with disabilities by supporting the use of new technologies assisting the hearing or visually impaired.
Bridging the Digital Divide
ConnectLA is working diligently toward closing the digital divide through grant programs, education and awareness. We are fully focused on doing all the work that is necessary to eliminate the digital divide in Louisiana by 2029, and leveraging all available funding and programs to make this a reality.
Access
Data indicates there are several hundred thousand households throughout Louisiana that lack broadband speeds of 100Mb per second download and 20Mb per second upload. According to a 2023 Forbes article, since internet speed sets the parameters for what you can do online, it is essential that it is up to par to support your daily internet usage. Ranging from less than 1 Mbps (incredibly slow) to 5,000 Mpbs (insanely fast), you can choose an internet plan that will suit your needs. However, it is recommended that a good download speed is at least 100 Mbps, while a good upload speed is at least 10 Mbps.
In the next five years, more than $1.5 billion will be invested to connect all Louisianians with reliable and affordable high-speed internet.
Affordability
A big hurdle to broadband access for some citizens is being able to afford monthly charges for internet service. About 43.6% of people or households do not have access to a low cost, high-speed internet subscription for their homes. Through the GUMBO grant program, ConnectLA uses consumer pricing as a scoring metric to ensure affordability is addressed in the state's federally funded programs.
Digital Skills
According to a 2018 U.S. Department of Education report, as many as 460,000 Louisiana residents, ages 18-64, lack the basic computer skills necessary to take full advantage of broadband services. To provide affordable broadband connectivity to all, we must ensure leaders throughout our state provide the digital literacy tools necessary for Louisianians to excel by providing learning opportunities and resources for users to gain working knowledge of devices and applications at use in their lives. ConnectLA is working with key stakeholders in economic and workforce development to develop and implement models that can be adapted here in Louisiana and close the digital skills gap among our citizens.
How to organize your broadband plan
Download the Broadband Toolkit
Review this document to understand how to provide access to broadband internet in your region.
Identify a Digital Navigator and Organize a Broadband Team
Pinpoint a leader and the instrumental stakeholders to start planning.
Gather Information
Collect data surrounding broadband access, affordability and digital literacy to execute the master broadband plan for your community.
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Broadband Toolkit
After countless visits throughout the state, we realized that parish and community leaders had a lot of the same questions for our office. Stakeholders wanted to know what exactly we meant by broadband access and why it was important to them. Everyone wanted to know how they should organize themselves to help bring this added benefit to their communities. The first step toward eliminating the digital divide is to bridge the knowledge gap and quickly address the questions. So, we created the Broadband Toolkit and used direct input from communities. This toolkit is a step-by-step guide that explains how to get everyone in your community or region access to broadband internet. This guide is for community leaders, elected officials, business owners and concerned citizens who will work with local governments and internet service providers for universal access to broadband.
EXCELLENT TOOLKIT! GREAT INFORMATION! Very thorough, understandable, explicit and reader friendly for all levels in layman’s terms! GREAT QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED! Great “WHAT IF” situations. The toolkit has all the information for all of us to take away a NEW & EASIER WAY of UNDERSTANDING BROADBAND and all the possibilities and how to get started on making those possibilities come true in our communities! -Jennifer Vidrine, Former President of the Louisiana Municipal Association
Organize Your Stakeholders
Establish Your Digital Navigator
The key to achieving universal broadband is identifying a Digital Navigator. This should be a local government leader who has the authority to make official requests of local government departments, believes in and can clearly articulate why the community needs better broadband and can help educate elected officials on the value of universal broadband.
Parishes that have established Digital Navigators:
- Bossier
- Calcasieu
- Concordia
- DeSoto
- East Carroll
- East Feliciana
- Evangeline
- LaSalle
- Livingston
- Natchitoches
- Ouachita
- Plaquemines
- Sabine
- St. Helena
- Tangipahoa
- Washington
Municipalities that have established Digital Navigators:
- Goldonna
- Monroe
- Slidell
- Stonewall
- Ville Platte
- West Monroe
Create Your Broadband Team
The Digital Navigator should establish a broadband management team. These folks won’t be working on broadband full-time, but they will support the Digital Navigator in their areas of work and expertise. The broadband management team will oversee the daily activities associated with development of the parish's or municipality’s broadband plan to achieve functionally universal broadband coverage by 2029. The broadband management team will also work with local staff involved in broadband-related policies (internal policies, zoning ordinances and parish or municipal codes.)
Examples of members represented on local broadband teams:
- Sabine Parish
- Police jurors
- Aldermen
- Local higher education deans
- CEOs of local companies
- Mayor's staff
- School board members
- Bossier Parish
- Police jurors
- IT personnel
- Chamber of commerce members
- Parish engineers
- Economic development representatives
State Grants
GUMBO Program
The Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities (GUMBO) grant program aims to help private providers facilitate the deployment of broadband service to unserved areas of the state. ConnectLA awarded an initial round of grants July 25, 2022. Over $130 million was awarded to projects in 50 different parishes, with over 66,000 locations to be served. ConnectLA awarded a second wave of grants on August 31, 2022, when $38 million was awarded to an additional set of projects in 10 different parishes.
Federal Grants
Federal grant programs have been established to directly fund broadband expansion and affordability. Outside of GUMBO, the following resource from the National Telecommunications Information Agency provides information on federal grant programs available to address your local access, literacy and affordability challenges.
Federal funding matrix - low bandwidth option
Grantor: Federal Communications Commission
Website
The schools and libraries universal service support program, commonly known as the E-rate program, helps schools and libraries to obtain affordable broadband.
Eligible schools, school districts and libraries may apply individually or as part of a consortium. Funding may be requested under two categories of service: category one services to a school or library (telecommunications, telecommunications services and internet access), and category two services that deliver internet access within schools and libraries (internal connections, basic maintenance of internal connections, and managed internal broadband services). Discounts for support depend on the level of poverty and whether the school or library is in an urban or rural area. The discounts range from 20% to 90% of the costs of eligible services. E-rate program funding is based on demand up to an annual Commission-established cap of $3.9 billion.
Grantor: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Website
The Farm Bill Broadband Program is designed to provide loans for funding, on a technology neutral basis, for the costs of construction, improvement and acquisition of facilities and equipment to provide broadband service to eligible rural communities.
Grantor: Federal Communications Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, other
Website
The Federal Communications Commission compiles and lists several funding sources for telecommunications and broadband services for eligible health care providers. They are as follows:
- FCC’s Rural Health Care Program
- Includes Healthcare Connect Fund
- U.S. Department of Agriculture
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Programs
- Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
- National Institutes for Health
Grantor: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Website
The Rural Business Development Grants combines the Rural Business Opportunity Grant program and the Rural Business Enterprise Grant program. USDA Rural Development is currently working on a rule to implement the program.
Grantor: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Website
The Telecommunications Infrastructure Loan Program makes long-term direct and guaranteed loans to qualified organizations for the purpose of financing the improvement, expansion, construction, acquisition and operation of telephone lines, facilities or systems to furnish and improve telecommunications service in rural areas. All facilities financed must be capable of supporting broadband services.
Mapping
Broadband mapping is a critical step toward visualizing what communities still lack access to high-speed, affordable internet in our state. The Federal Communications Commission has published maps to determine how much broadband funding states will receive from the federal government to shore up gaps in their internet service. As part of this process, states, residents, cities, parishes and businesses were encouraged to challenge the accuracy of these maps. Because accuracy is the determining factor for federal broadband funding, we are working to ensure communities stay engaged with the mapping process and that the level of service indicated on these maps reflects the reality on the ground.
There are many resources available to identify broadband access, federal programs and mapping tools that stakeholders can use to investigate what is available and coming to your community. Linked below are just a few!
The FCC Fixed Broadband Deployment Map is a great starting point for local governmental units. While not exact, this map can give local leaders a directional sense of the areas within their communities that may lack access to broadband service
The Rural Digital Opportunity Fund is a federal program that awarded funding to internet service providers who committed to providing broadband service to unserved areas. These locations are important to local governmental units for two reasons. First, as a community works to solve its digital divide, it may be beneficial to communicate with RDOF winning companies that will be deploying broadband in areas near your community. Secondly, if a community would like to participate as a partner in the GUMBO grant program, it is important to know that RDOF areas are not eligible.
The Connect America Fund was a comprehensive reform of the Universal Service Fund (USF) and Intercarrier Compensation (ICC) systems to accelerate broadband build-out to the approximately 23 million Americans (as of December 31, 2013) who lacked access to infrastructure capable of providing 10/1 Mbps fixed broadband.
The Connect America Fund Phase II was part of the FCC’s reform and modernization of its universal service support programs. In 2018, 103 bidders won $1.49 billion over 10 years to provide fixed broadband and voice services to over 700,000 locations in 45 states.
The ReConnect Program offers unique federal financing and funding options in the form of loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in areas of rural America that don’t currently have sufficient access to broadband.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s NTIA released a new publicly available digital map that displays key indicators of broadband needs across the country. This map links poverty usage and broadband access by compiling data sets to show where high-poverty communities are located with relation to internet usage patterns and access to computers and related equipment.
Other Resources
National and state nonprofit organizations have historically provided grants for broadband providers and municipalities working toward broadband access for unserved and underserved populations.
Broadband Infrastructure Playbook
This guide is for states and territories to help them accelerate the funding available to them, provide best practices from past state broadband grant programs and help establish some consistency in the process nationwide.
Education Superhighway’s mission is to upgrade internet access in every public-school classroom in America so that all students can take advantage of the promise of digital learning. They have identified and offer resources to communities to overcome three primary barriers to having adequate broadband speeds in the classroom, awareness, expertise and affordability.
Grantor: EveryoneOn
Website
EveryoneOn is working to eliminate the digital divide by making high-speed, low-cost internet service and computers, and free digital literacy courses accessible to all unconnected Americans.
The national nonprofit does so through partnerships with local internet service providers and offers free or $9.95 home internet service in 48 states and the District of Columbia. They work with device refurbishers, so individuals and their families can purchase discounted devices, including $150 tablets and $199 laptops. Citizens can directly interact with the organization and receive the benefits.
A Facebook-led partnership with the mission to “connect the two-thirds of the world that don’t have internet access.”
TechSoup Global is one of the most comprehensive technology resources for non-governmental organizations around the world. Working with corporate donors, including Microsoft, Adobe, Cisco and Symantec, TechSoup provides non-governmental organizations, nonprofits, libraries and community-based organizations with the latest professional hardware, software, and services they need. These information and communication technology (ICT) donations are available alongside educational content, such as articles, webinars, and tech community forums.
Louisiana's Veteran Initiative (LAVETBIZ) is a certification program that is designed to help eligible Louisiana Veteran-owned and Service-Connected Disabled-Veteran-owned small businesses gain greater access to purchasing and contracting opportunities that are available at the state government level. Search for companies here.
A sample letter of intent can be found here.
A recent webinar on the program can be found here.
Louisiana's Hudson Initiative is a certification program that is designed to help eligible Louisiana small businesses gain greater access to purchasing and contracting opportunities that are available at the State government level. Search for companies here.
A sample letter of intent can be found here.
A recent webinar on the program can be found here.
Louisiana has a variety of internet service providers available who serve residential and commercial customers. Updated contact information for each company is included in this document.
ConnectLA recognizes barriers to deployment and the inherent need for stakeholders to work with the proper entities to facilitate and expedite permitting processes for their projects. As a state level partner, LA DOTD has been instrumental in assistance in this area. Specifically for broadband permitting projects, the following points of contact have been assigned to help providers in this area:
LA DOTD Contacts:
- Scott Boyle (District 2) 504-437-3101
- Eric Dauphine (District 3) 337-262-6101
- David North (District 4) 318-549-8301
- Jeff Connella (District 5) 318-342-0101
- Seth Woods (District 7) 337-437-9101
- Troy Roussell (District 8) 318-561-5101
- Jay Collins (District 58) 318-412-3100
- Josh Stutes (District 61) 225-231-4101
- Dalton Williams (District 62) 985-375-0101
Levee Board Contacts:
- Amite River Basin Drainage & Water Conservation 225-296-4900
- John Clark- President/Chairman jclark@ibervilleparish.com
- Toni Guitrau- Contact tguitrau@amitebasin.org
- Rachel Lambert- Executive Director rlambert@amitebasin.org
- Website: www.amitebasin.org
- Atchafalaya Basin Levee District 225-387-2249
- John Grezaffi- President/Chairman
- Christy Jewell- Contact info@abldla.com
- William Tyson- Executive Director
- Bossier Levee District 318-746-7206
- Timothy Larkin- President/Chairman
- Deanna Rabb- Contact drabb@bossierleveedistrict.com
- Mark Long- Operations Coordinator mark.long@bossierleveedistrict.com 318-455-3696
- Website: www.bossierleveedistrict.com
- Caddo Levee District 318-221-2654
- Patrick Harrison- President/Chairman pharrison@soundfighter.com
- Penny Adams- Contact admin@caddolevee.org
- Patrick Furlong- Executive Director
- Chenier Plain Coastal Restoration & Protection Authority
- Kay Barnett- President/Chairman kaybarnett@suddenlink.net 337-794-2608
- City of Baton Rouge, Parish of EBR, Dept of Public Works 225-389-3158
- Tom Stephens- Director tstephens@brla.gov
- Steven Johnson- Contact sejohnson@brla.gov
- Fifth Louisiana Levee District 318-574-2206
- Reynold Minsky- President/Chairman minksy@bayou.com 318-559-1613
- Jason Trichell- Contact fifthld2@bellsouth.net
- Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities 225-342-7669
- Enger Kinchen- Contact enger.kinchen@la.gov
- Glenn Ledet- Executive Director 225-342-2179
- Website: http://www.coastal.la.gov/
- Grand Isle Independent Levee District 985-787-3196
- David Camardelle- President/Chairman mayor@townofgrandisle.com 985-217-0888
- Pat Bellanger- Levee Board Secretary gilevee@yahoo.com
- Jan- Office Assistant
- Lafitte Area Independent Levee District 504-689-2208
- Timothy Kerner- President/Chairman
- Nicole Cooper- Contact ncooper@townofjeanlafitte.com
- Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities 225-265-7545
- Eric Matherne- President/Chairman
- Donald Henry- Executive Director drhenry@lbld.us.com
- Louisiana Department of Transportation & Development
- Edward Knight- Contact edward.knight@la.gov 225-379-3015
- Website: www.dotd.la.gov
- Natchitoches Levee & Drainage District
- Karlton Methvin- President/Chairman
- Ronald Corkern- Attorney rcorkern@corkerncrews.net 318-352-2303
- Nineteenth Louisiana Levee District
- Richard Crain- President/Chairman rcroost@bellsouth.net 318-729-5225
- Gordon Smith- Contact webfootag@yahoo.com 318-446-1426
- North Lafourche Conservation, Levee & Drainage District 985-537-2244
- Cory Kief- 2024 President coryk@nlcldd.com
- Katie DeRoche- Executive Assistant katied@nlcldd.com 985-852-1719
- Dwayne Bourgeois- Executive Director dwayneb@nlcldd.com 985-228-0052
- Website: http://www.northlafourchelevee.com/
- Plaquemines Parish Government 504-934-6000
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- Keith Hinkley- President/Chairman khinkley@ppgov.net 504-934-6020
- Billy Wichers- Director of Operations bwichers@ppgov.net 504-934-6327
- Website: http://www.plaqueminesparish.com/
- Pontchartrain Levee District 225-869-9721
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- Senecca Boudreaux- President/Chairman senecca.boudreaux@yahoo.com 225-206-2496
- Monica Gorman- Executive Director mgorman@leveedistrict.org 504-559-6691
- Website: http://www.leveedistrict.org/
- Red River, Atchafalaya, & Bayou Boeuf Levee District 318-443-9650
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- Chris Roy, Jr.- President/Chairman
- Ryan Ingles- Executive Director ringles@rrabb.net
- Website: http://www.rrabb.net/
- Red River Levee & Drainage District
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- Bill Waltman- President/Chairman
- Marie Woodard- Contact rrleveeboard@att.net
- Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – East 504-286-3100
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- Clay Cosse- President/Chairman ccosse@floodauthority.org
- Kelli Chandler- Regional Director kchandler@floodauthority.org 504-330-3316
- Chris Humphreys- Director of Engineering chumphreys@floodauthority.org 504-239-3759
- Kirk Ordonyne- Exec Counsel kordoyne@floodauthority.org 504-508-2705
- Website: http://www.floodauthority.org/
- East Jefferson Levee District 504-469-7522
- Lake Borgne Basin Levee District 504-682-5941
- Orleans Levee District 504-286-3100
- Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority – West
- Scott Burke- President 504-340-0318
- Nicholas Cali- Regional Director ncali@slfpaw.org 504-371-6900
- Jesse Noel- Director of Operations jnoel@slfpaw.org 504-371-6847
- Website: http://www.slfpaw.org/
- Algiers Levee District and West Jefferson Levee District 504-340-0318
- South Lafourche Levee District 985-632-7554
- Keith Guidry- President/Chairman keithg257@yahoo.com
- Mary Punch- Contact mpunch@slld.org
- Nicholas Matherne- General Manager nmatherne@slld.org 985-856-4170
- Website: http://www.slld.org/
- St. Mary Levee District 985-380-5500
- William Hidalgo- President/Chairman billh1@halimarshipyard.com
- Tim Matte- Executive Director timmatte@smld.org
- Michael Brocato- Operation Manager michael.brocato@smld.org
- Shelly Scully- Administration Assistant shelly.scully@smld.org
- Website: http://www.smld.org/
- St. Tammany Levee, Drainage and Conservation District
- Suzanne Krieger- Chairman skrieger.stldcd@aol.com 504-491-0157
- Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District 337-233-6902
- Edward Sonnier- Chairman
- Donald F. Sagrera- Executive Director waterdistrict@aol.com
- Tensas Basin Levee District 318-323-1130
- Drew Keahey- 2024 Vice President
- Brandon Waggoner- Executive Director brandon.waggoner@la.gov 318-366-9873
- Terrebonne Levee & Conservation District 985-868-8523
- Anthony Alford- President/Chairman
- Reggie Dupre- Executive Director rdupre@tlcd.org 985-790-9902
- Angela Rains- Contact arains@tlcd.org
- Website: www.tlcd.org
Additional right-of-way permitting information can be found here. The website includes pertinent details for this unit, permitting forms and instructions, as well as contact information for all DOTD districts.
Railroad operators also play a large role in ensuring projects can be completed in a timely manner. Permit forms should be completed as required by each operator, and state funded broadband projects should be notated to ensure proper expedited processing. Details are listed below for each operator:
Union Pacific Railroad - Drew Tessier, Senior Director Public Affairs - 225-338-2937
Acadiana Railway - Jarrett Mankin & Chris Cline
Delta Southern Railroad - Jarrett Mankin & Chris Cline
Norfolk Southern - Tim Harrison, System Manager
Canadian National - Stacey Lyons, Manager, Government & Public Affairs
BNSF Railway - Michael Garriga
Arkansas, Louisiana & Mississippi Railroad - Donna Killingsworth - 904-900-6286
Louisiana & Delta Railroad - Donna Killingsworth - 904-900-6286
The high cost of internet service is a significant problem for many people. Though plans can be costly, there are still options available to those on limited incomes and even fixed incomes!
This guide explains different types of internet access for limited-income families and provides avenues for government assistance if need be.