Cameron Marx

The executive director of Colorado’s Broadband Office Brandy Reitter offered a sneak preview of results from Colorado’s Benefit of the Bargain Round. Under the old Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, roughly 70 percent of Colorado’s locations were set to be served by fiber, and 30 percent were to be served by fixed wireless and low-earth orbit satellites. Now, only 40 percent of Colorado’s locations are set to be served by fiber, with most of the remaining 60 percent going to LEO. 

If states were counting on leftover Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funds for non-deployment projects, panelists at BEAD Unplugged on August 12 warned: Don’t. “[Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick cares about making money and saving money,” Gigi Sohn, executive director of the American Association for Public Broadband and Benton Institute for Broadband & Society senior fellow and public advocate, said.

If you thought attacks on the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund were over, think again. Consumers’ Research, Cause Based Commerce, Inc., and several individuals filed a comment with the Federal Communications Commission, urging the agency to set the USF contribution factor to zero. Despite the recent 6-3 Supreme Court 

State broadband offices are stuck in a staring contest with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Arizona and New Mexico reported a surge in applications for federal broadband funding after being directed to relaunch “technology-neutral” grant rounds under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. Nick Capozzi, Arizona’s state broadband director, said that the state received 33 percent more applications in the latest round.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Chief of Staff Brooke Donilon confirmed that locations recently defaulted on in the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will not be eligible to be included in NTIA's Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. “At some point we just had to draw a line and get to the 'Benefit of the Bargain' program,” Donilon said. “We can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good here. We have to get communities connected.

Minnesota’s “Benefit of the Bargain” round received ten fewer applications from fiber providers and left 22,000 locations without any bids. “There are about 22,000 of the 76,000 eligible locations that did not receive a first-round bid,” explained Minnesota Office of Broadband Development Executive Director Bree Maki. “We lost ten applications from fiber providers because of it—and rightfully so. This is confusing.”

Arkansas State Broadband Director Glen Howie said that the state had experienced a 25 percent decline in the number of applicants seeking funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The state went from 44 applicants in the original BEAD program to just 33 in the "Benefit of the Bargain" round.

Olivia Trusty was confirmed to fill a five-year term as a Federal Communications Commission Commissioner, securing a 2-1 Republican majority and a quorum for FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. The vote to confirm her to a new five-year term was 53-45. Sens Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and James Risch (R-ID) were absent.

After setting aside “visceral” reactions against the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's June 6 restructuring policy notice governing the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, state broadband officials expressed willingness to roll up their sleeves and make it work. “It appeared to be much more of a mess last week, when we were all very visceral in our reactions to it,” said Eric Frederick, Chief Connectivity