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In this episode, Tim Locker interviews Jade Piros de Carvalho, director

of the Kansas Office of Broadband Development. They discuss Jade's

background and how she entered the broadband industry, coming from a

marketing and communications role. She highlights the importance of

broadband access as an "opportunity equalizer", especially in rural

areas, and how the pandemic shed light on digital inequities.‍

Jade provides an overview of the federal BEAD (Broadband Equity Access

and Deployment) program that is providing states with funding to expand

broadband access. She explains how it is being administered differently

than past federal programs, with more state and local involvement. They

discuss some of the strings attached to the grants and how Kansas is

moving quickly to distribute funding. Jade also talks about the

Broadband Ready Communities program in Kansas that educates local

governments on how to facilitate broadband investment.

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