Florida Broadband Deployment Act of 2021 (CS/CS/HB 1239)

• Creates Part XV of Chapter 288, Florida Statutes establishing the Florida Office of Broadband within the Department of Economic Opportunity to develop, market, and promote broadband Internet services statewide.

• Appropriates $1.5 million to develop geographic information system maps identifying broadband availability, infrastructure gaps in rural areas, and transmission speeds by June 30, 2022; requires biennial updates to the office's strategic plan submitted to the Governor and Legislature.

• Establishes the Broadband Opportunity Program to award grants (up to $5 million per project, maximum 50% of total project cost) to expand broadband service to unserved areas, with priority given to projects serving community institutions, economically distressed areas, and leveraging private funding.

• Allows broadband providers to attach wireline facilities to municipal electric utility poles at a promotional rate of $1 per attachment per pole per year through July 1, 2024 for service to unserved and underserved customers; prohibits municipal utilities from increasing pole attachment fees between July 1, 2021 and July 31, 2022.

• Effective date: July 1, 2021.