MS HB1030

Creates the Mississippi Office of Broadband within the Department of Finance and Administration, headed by an executive director appointed by the Governor with Senate consent, to coordinate all state broadband expansion efforts and administer federal broadband programs.

Establishes the Mississippi Broadband Grant Program and Mississippi Broadband Opportunity Fund to provide competitive grants to eligible broadband service providers for extending service to unserved areas (defined as areas lacking access to at least 100 megabits per second download and 20 megabits per second upload speeds).

Limits grants to private broadband providers (excluding governmental entities and educational institutions) that have at least three years of experience serving 100+ locations and must provide at least 20% of project costs; administrator may use up to 1% of fund for administrative costs.

Requires competitive, technology-neutral grant awards based on applicant experience, project readiness, scalability, likelihood of serving unserved areas, community development collaboration, and private capital commitment; award recommendations must be published and remain open for 60 days of public comment and objections.

Prohibits grants for areas already served by broadband providers, under construction for fiber deployment, publicly announced for deployment, or receiving federal funding from FCC or USDA programs; requires grant recipients to submit semiannual reports for two years after project completion and annual reporting to state leadership.