BEAD changes: No low-cost mandate, no fiber preference
The BEAD program has been overhauled separately because Republicans do not like the way it was administered by Democrats. The Biden administration spent three years developing BEAD rules and procedures and evaluating plans submitted by US states and territories. But the Trump administration has delayed grant funding while it rewrites rules.
While Biden’s Commerce Department prioritized the building of fiber networks Republicans have pushed a “tech-neutral approach” which would benefit cable companies and fixed wireless providers as well as Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service.
Secretary Howard Lutnick announced changes in March and today, he has confirmed them. The announcement provided more details about the overhaul, which will eliminate the fiber preferences and various requirements that are imposed on the states. The Trump administration will not allow states to require grant recipients to provide low-cost internet plans at specific rates for people with low incomes. This is a notable but not surprising change. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, “will refuse to accept any low-cost service option proposed in a [state or territory’s] Final Proposal that attempts to impose a specific rate level (i.e., dollar amount),” said the Trump administration. ISPs will instead be able continue to offer “their existing, market driven low-cost plans to meet the statutory low-cost requirement.”
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society criticized this overhauland said that the Trump administration was investing in the cheapest infrastructure. The advocacy group stated that “Fiber-based broadband networks will last longer, provide better, more reliable service, and scale to meet communities’ ever-growing connectivity needs,” . “NTIA’s new guidance is shortsighted and will undermine economic development in rural America for decades to come.”
The Trump Administration’s overhaul was praised by cable lobby group NCTA – The Internet & Television Association. Their members will be able to get subsidies easier. NCTA said. “These updates are welcome improvements that will make it easier for providers to build faster, especially in hard-to-reach communities, without being bogged down by red tape.”
