HB 4288 Summary

• Establishes the Broadband Expansion Act of Michigan, a statewide grant program administered by the Department of Technology, Management, and Budget to fund broadband service expansion into unserved areas.

• Restricts grants to internet service providers only (excluding government entities and educational institutions) for projects exclusively serving unserved areas, with a maximum award of $5,000,000 per project or applicant.

• Requires competitive, technology-neutral grant awards based on criteria including applicant experience, project readiness, long-term viability, network scalability, low-income service discounts, and community collaboration for economic development.

• Prohibits grant recipients from providing the same service area as applicants receiving federal, state, or local government broadband expansion funding, and establishes a 60-day public comment period for challenging award recommendations.

• Mandates semiannual reporting by grant recipients for 3 years after project completion, tracking broadband access locations, service speeds, pricing, and adoption rates.