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Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Office of Broadband Overview The Department of Economic Opportunity's (DEO) Office of Broadband was established in July 2020 to increase the availability and effectiveness of broadband internet throughout the state. Amending Section 288.9961, Florida Statutes, and creating Sections 288.9962 and 288.9963, Florida Statutes, allows DEO to access federal grant dollars and assist rural communities with the expansion of broadband services, while also providing directives for mapping and the Broadband Opportunity Program. DEO's Office of Broadband has been directed to perform the following duties: • Create a strategic plan to increase and improve the availability of, access to, and use of broadband internet service in Florida by June 30, 2022, and biennially thereafter. The plan must include a process to review and verify public input on the broadband internet transmission speeds and availability, federal broadband activities, and funding sources. • Build and facilitate local technology planning teams, especially with community members from the areas of education, healthcare, business, tourism, agriculture, economic development, and local government. The planning teams shall work closely with rural communities to understand current broadband availability, identify assets for broadband deployment, build partnerships with service providers, identify underserved and unserved residents and businesses, identify funding opportunities, and provide assistance with applying for federal grants for broadband internet service. • Provide technical and planning assistance to rural communities. • Establish the Broadband Opportunity Program to award grants to applicants who seek to expand broadband to unserved areas, rulemaking for the program (subject to appropriations), and apply for federal funds. • Develop a map of broadband internet service availability throughout the state consistent with the Federal Communications Commission's Digital Opportunity Data Collection program. The map must identify where broadband -capable networks exist, service is available to end users, gaps in rural areas, and download and upload transmission speeds. DEO must receive and verify public input to identify locations in which broadband internet service is not available, including locations with transmission speeds below the Federal Communications Commission's standard of 25 megabits per second downstream and 3 megabits per second upstream. The map must be completed by June 30, 2022. • Encourage public use of internet service through broadband grant programs. ti'7l