Expanding broadband access to unserved communities is one of the “most pressing tasks ahead,” Arielle Roth, nominee to head the NTIA, said in testimony, March 27, before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation.
“Thanks to Congress’s historic, bipartisan investments in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, NTIA has a responsibility to ensure that these funds are spent efficiently, expeditiously,” Roth said. “I look forward to working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to ensure that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is a success and lives up to its bipartisan legacy.”
Roth also committed to freeing up spectrum for non-government use to promote the “nation’s economic prosperity and technology leadership,” while safeguarding national security.
Roth’s appearance before Congress follows Evan Feinman’s exit as director of the BEAD program in mid-March and subsequent warnings about the progress of the massive $42 billion program in media interviews. The new administration was proposing troubling changes, before fully understanding the program, Feinman said in a parting memo to staff published by Wireless Estimator.
“The new administration seems to want to make changes that ignore the clear direction laid out by Congress, reduce the number of American homes and businesses that get fiber connections, and increase the number that get satellite connections,” Feinman wrote.
The result of changing the program at this late date will be delays in the deployment of internet service in rural areas, according to Feinman, leaving the states in limbo.
“The administration simply cannot say whether the time, taxpayer funds, and private capital that were spent on those processes will be wasted or how much states will have to re-do,” Feinman wrote.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick announced March 5 that the Commerce Department has launched a review of the BEAD program. He blamed the BEAD delays on the Biden Administration’s favoritism towards certain technologies and burdensome regulations.
“The Department is ripping out the Biden Administration’s pointless requirements. It is revamping the BEAD program to take a tech-neutral approach that is rigorously driven by outcomes, so states can provide internet access for the lowest cost,” Lutnick said in a statement.
Several voices in Congress also appear anxious to become involved in oversight concerning how the BEAD money will be spent. Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) joined Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) and several Senate Republicans in introducing the Broadband Buildout Accountability Act, aimed at increasing accountability and transparency to the broadband expansion. The legislation would remove the Freedom of Information Act exemption from the BEAD Program.
“Hardworking Americans deserve to know how and where their tax dollars are being spent, yet records concerning a $42 billion broadband deployment program remain off-limits to the public,” said Sen. Curtis. “By removing disclosure exemptions, our bill would ensure public access to documents that show where the money is going, who is getting it, and how it’s being used—helping to prevent waste, fraud, or mismanagement.”
Early in March, the Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment (SPEED) for BEAD Act was introduced by Congressman Richard Hudson (R-NC), Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. This legislation would eliminate the regulations imposed by the NTIA deemed as too expensive, eliminate rate regulation, and make the program technology-neutral, according to Hudson.
“These changes to the BEAD program can be implemented quickly, provide certainty to the states and not hinder the progress that states have already made,” Hudson told a Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing.”
Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) voiced her concerns about attempts to divert BEAD funding from fiber to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service.
“Republicans claim they’re just being technology neutral,” Matsui said. “But can we trust this when the Trump Administration has given Elon Musk nearly unfettered authority to further his business interests by taking over government contracts and dismantling agencies regulating his companies?”
Matsui said the Republicans are delaying BEAD in order to eliminate protections for affordability, good paying jobs and climate resilient networks. “These changes will drive up costs for consumers while driving down the quality of service,” she said. “I urge my Republican colleagues to stop the delays, stop the sabotage and work with us to fully implement all federal broadband programs, including BEAD and Digital Equity.”
