Ian Doescher

Permitting sits on the critical path to broadband deployment, and understanding what agencies require can decide whether a project finishes on schedule. That was the central message of a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) webinar held August 26, which brought together federal permitting officials and a broadband provider who navigated a large Alaska fiber project. NTIA acting Chief Environmental Review and Permitting Officer Amanda Pereira moderated the session.

USTelecom–The Broadband Association CEO Jonathan Spalter predicted that swifter progress will be made on federal policy regarding broadband deployment—particularly permitting—if the upcoming midterm elections see one of the houses of Congress (the Senate or the House of Representatives) switch to Democratic control. Joking that Congress has an “Olympian level of excellence in terms of getting nothing done—a gold medal,” Spalter argued that a change in control of one chamber of Congress will result in a change in tone.

Pole attachment requirements added late in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program rollout have become a sticking point for electric cooperatives, already pushing some out of the program. Under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) revised terms, an electric cooperative that accepts BEAD funding for any part of its territory becomes subject to Federal Communications Commission pole attachment rates across its entire service area, not only the funded portion.

The City of Westerville (OH) and altafiber have formed a public-private partnership to bring a multigig fiber network to the community without the city spending capital dollars on the infrastructure. Under the public-private partnership, altafiber will establish a long-term presence at WeConnect, the city-owned data center, allowing it to serve local customers while opening a new revenue stream for the municipal facility.

California regulators are challenging how AT&T is retiring its legacy business data services, warning that the carrier’s handling of the shift could jeopardize critical infrastructure that public utilities depend on. In a July 14 letter, California Public Utilities Commission President John Reynolds urged AT&T to address a growing list of customer complaints.

As data center campuses push south of Northern Virginia in search of land and power, a new fiber network aims to give hyperscale and AI operators a path that steers clear of the increasingly congested Interstate 95 corridor. Virginia Fiber Express Networks LLC, a subsidiary of Infraforward Strategies LLC, announced that it had secured competitive local exchange carrier and interexchange carrier operating licenses, along with land use permits, from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Astound Vice President of Regulatory Broadband and Community Relations Fred Maldonado said Astound had submitted 33 Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program applications in Texas, designed to form a single, contiguous fiber route extending from the company’s existing network into more than 30 counties. The state ultimately awarded only five of those applications, leaving Astound with counties sitting far from its existing footprint. “It regrettably became impossible to justify the expense to build to these counties,” Maldonado said. Oregon presented a similar problem.

Most rural broadband providers expect AI to change how they operate, even as the majority remain in the early stages of using it, according to Telecompetitor’s 2026 Rural Broadband State of AI study. Of the 132 providers surveyed, 91 percent said they anticipate a significant impact on both their own companies and the wider industry. That expectation has not yet translated into deep adoption, and the findings suggest that many providers are not as far behind as they might feel.

The Texas Broadband Development Office announced that it had finalized its subgrantee agreements for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program. The announcement said that the Lone Star State’s BEAD funds are being awarded to 17 providers and will connect more than 208,000 underserved and unserved locations.

The National Science Foundation recently announced a new funding opportunity for its TechAccess: the AI-Ready America initiative, which seeks to “expand access to AI knowledge, tools, training, and capacity building so all Americans can participate in—and benefit from—the AI economy.” The NSF is planning to invest $1 million per year—for three to four years—to fund “AI-Ready Coordination Hubs” in all 50 states in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the U.S.