The U.S. Commerce Department on Friday unveiled its revamps to the government’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, touting a new “tech-neutral” approach and tossing its previous fiber-centric efforts to the curb.
The updates to the $42.45 billion program, which provides broadband access grants to close the digital divide across the United States and its territories, have removed what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said were “burdensome regulations” pushed by the Biden administration.
Those regulations included labor and employment requirements, climate reporting requirements, along with the Biden administration’s “fiber-first” approach.
Lutnick first announced the changes to the program were coming in March, just months after the BEAD program announced it had approved “Internet for All” plans for all states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories participating in the program.
“Today we proudly announce a new direction for the BEAD program that will deliver high-speed internet access efficiently on a technology-neutral basis, and at the right price,” Lutnick said in a statement. “President Trump promised to put an end to wasteful spending, and thanks to his leadership, the American people will get the benefit of the bargain, with connectivity delivered around the country at a fraction of the cost of the original program.”
Yet, the program’s revamps will hinder progress for many program participants – specifically those who are still selecting their subgrantees. States must now “implement these reforms in their subgrantee selection process,” in an effort to lower costs, fast track implementation, and consider “all technology solutions.”
According to the BEAD Progress Dashboard, 45 eligible entities have begun selecting service providers while only four have completed service provider selection.
States and territories must comply with the updates within 90 days of their release, and must include an additional “Benefit of the Bargain Round” of subgrantee selection that will allow “all applicants to compete on a level playing field,” according to the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA).
A new tool dubbed the “Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool” (ESAPTT) was also included alongside updated requirements and is designed to reduce broadband permitting timelines by several months.
While the revamps have been applauded by many Republicans lawmakers – who introduced legislation to revamp the program themselves in March – Democrats have been less eager for the changes, warning that they threaten to raise costs for constituents and upend years of progress.
“Congress was thoughtful and bipartisan when hammering out the details for BEAD, because we realize the stakes for getting connectivity right are sky high,” said Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., who serves as ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology. “These new changes undo the states’ hard work, punt the broadband deployment timeline further down the line, and ultimately, drive up costs for consumers. This delay is unacceptable.”
The tech-neutral hints given by Lutnick and other Republicans had caused alarm for Democrats in March, who voiced concern about the potential for NTIA to favor specific broadband providers – such as Elon Musk’s Starlink – as part of the BEAD selection process. Arielle Roth, head of NTIA, had promised at the time that she would “administer the program to the benefit of the American people, not any single individual or company.”