Broadband

Leveraging Public Lands to Connect America

In the 21st century, broadband communications are as vital as roads and bridges, powerlines, and water and sewer systems. Broadband access supports economic growth and competitiveness, provides access to health care and educational opportunities, and enhances civic participation.

While 91 percent of American households in urban areas have access to high-speed internet and broadband services, access for rural and Tribal areas continues to lag. Many of these areas are located near public lands the BLM manages, giving the agency a key role in closing the digital divide and supporting local economies. 

The BLM makes public lands available for siting broadband tower infrastructure through right-of-way (ROW) authorizations. We also manage ROWs for 5,000 miles of energy corridors that are compatible with fiber optic and telephone lines. 

Executive Action to Increase Broadband Deployment

To address the digital divide, the President Trump signed Executive Order 13821 (EO 13821), Streamlining and Expediting Requests to Locate Broadband Facilities in Rural America, on January 18, 2018.  Of special interest, it directs agency heads to “to use all viable tools to accelerate the deployment and adoption of affordable, reliable, modern high-speed broadband connectivity in rural America, including rural homes, farms, small businesses, manufacturing and production sites, tribal communities, transportation systems, and healthcare and education facilities.”

A Presidential Memorandum was subsequently issued to the Secretary of the Interior.  It directed the Department to develop a plan to allow private high-speed broadband companies to co-locate their equipment on Departmental assets.  It also instructed the Department to identify those assets that can be used to support additional broadband development and adoption in rural communities.

Both of these directives instruct agencies, including the BLM, to streamline permitting, and assist in the deployment of broadband into rural America.  

The DOI joined the Broadband Interagency Working Group (BIWG) in 2012. Involvement in the BIWG has substantially increased with the BIWG’s rollout of EO 13821.