July 2025

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s National Telecommunications and Information Agency is trying to make the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program more efficient. However, at least one new provision threatens to undercut these efficiency incentives. NTIA’s new rules improve the previous administration’s rules in many important ways. They eliminate requirements unrelated to broadband that resulted in making it more complicated and expensive for states to create and implement their plans.

Ezee Fiber, a Houston (TX)-based fiber internet provider wholly owned by I Squared Capital, announced an agreement to acquire Tachus Fiber Internet, a leading fiber optic internet service provider headquartered in The Woodlands (TX) from Crosstimbers Capital Group. This acquisition will significantly expand Ezee Fiber's service footprint across the northern communities of Greater Houston, reinforcing its position as one of the region's premier fiber internet providers.