Oklahoma is making significant strides in its mission to bring high-speed internet to every corner of the state, with nearly half of all unserved households and businesses slated to receive broadband service through ongoing funding initiatives. Brian Whitacre of OSU Extension recently discussed the progress, highlighting the state’s aggressive approach to closing the digital divide.
“This is always a hot topic, I know,” Whitacre began, acknowledging the widespread interest in broadband access. He delivered good news, stating, “The Oklahoma broadband office is moving right ahead with getting some projects funded and underway.”
The state’s strategy involves three distinct rounds of funding aimed at connecting areas currently without service. Two of these rounds have already seen significant progress. “We had the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Act funds, which were awarded back in January of 2024, and then the Capital Projects Fund, which was awarded in September of 2024,” Whitacre explained.
Combined, these initial two rounds represent a substantial investment of around $470 million to connect about 69,000 households or businesses currently lacking service, according to Whitacre. This achievement marks a significant milestone, representing “about half of all the places in Oklahoma that don’t have a good broadband connection,” a number estimated to be around 150,000 locations.
The third and largest wave of funding comes from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, providing “almost $800 million to try to get those last about 75,000 households or businesses connected.” Whitacre expressed optimism, stating, “It’s looking pretty good in terms of getting these places with no broadband some pretty good broadband.”
A new, valuable tool for Oklahomans is the broadband office’s recently launched online map and portal. “Just this week, the broadband office made a really nice portal, where you can go in and say, ‘Okay, where are these places being built?'” Whitacre encouraged residents to explore the map provided in the portal, noting, “You can zoom into the exact road segment and maybe find your house as one of the locations that should be served.”
While the applications for the BEAD funding just closed, announcements on those awards are expected within the next couple of months, with the significant rollout of funds anticipated later this year.
Regarding the ultimate goal of universal high-speed internet, Whitacre provided a timeline. “These BEAD funds that I just talked about, that last $800 million, come with a five-year timeline. They have to have everything done within five years,” he said. However, he noted that many projects from the first two funding rounds are already laying wire and connecting households, with connections expected “as we speak, certainly, by the end of the year, early 2026.” The BEAD-funded connections are projected to begin in “mid-2026, moving into 27.”
The progress is undeniable, with the total number of households without connectivity dramatically decreasing. “It was up around 200,000 households that had nothing, and then it dropped to about 150,” Whitacre reported. “If we get these, the two that have already been rolled out, that’s another 60 to 70,000 that have been connected. So we’re definitely making progress, but it does take time.”
Geographically, the new portal helps pinpoint areas with the greatest need. “A lot of [the funds] are going in the northeast,” Whitacre observed. He anticipates that the BEAD funding will address the “harder to reach” areas, particularly “down in the southeast, some in the southwest,” where terrain and remoteness pose challenges.
For those wondering if they still need to report their lack of service, Whitacre clarified, “That’s pretty much been decided. That’s at this point, you know, all those locations have been counted, and that’s what the providers have built their applications around.” He instead advised residents to “go in and look and see if your area is in the place that’s actually being actively built.”
A key focus of these deployments is fiber optic technology. “Good news is, most of what’s been deployed so far is fiber,” Whitacre confirmed, with “about 85% of the funds were to fiber” in the first two programs. While fixed wireless is also being utilized for economically unfeasible fiber areas, the preference remains for fiber. “We hope that trend continues with the BEAD funding,” he added.
Looking ahead, Whitacre addressed the potential for new technologies like satellite internet. “I have not seen that in anything official,” he stated, noting that Oklahoma’s broadband office is “marching forward, kind of with this fiber preferred layout.”
The new Oklahoma broadband dashboard offers various functionalities, allowing users to filter by technology (fiber or fixed wireless) and project status (build-out started or complete). This enables residents to track progress in their specific areas and even identify the providers responsible for the build, allowing them to “reach out and actually, you know, contact those people who are doing the build in your area and get some more information about exact dates and maybe advanced sign-ups.”
However, Whitacre shared some disappointing news regarding digital equity efforts. “The Trump administration canceled what we’re calling digital equity work,” he lamented. This funding would have supported initiatives to help Oklahomans, particularly in rural areas, learn how to productively use their new internet connections for everything from setting up online businesses to accessing telehealth services. “Sadly, those grants have all been canceled across the country,” he said. Despite this setback, the core infrastructure funding remains in place, ensuring that the physical connections continue to expand across the state.
The grant programs administered by the Broadband Office are funded with taxpayer dollars, and Oklahomans should be kept fully informed on how those dollars are being used. The Broadband Office can be seen here: OBO Broadband Dashboard.
Embedded on the agency’s website at broadband.ok.gov, the dashboard provides top-line data on the progress of broadband expansion and allows viewers to follow each project, beginning with the permitting and engineering phases and ending with service going live for new customers. Information is available by awarded grant program, technology used, project status, and can be viewed by county, congressional, state house, and state senate districts. The pulldown arrows in the upper right of the map allow for search by addresses and other options. A video tutorial can be viewed here. The dashboard will be kept up to date and can be accessed at this link.
