Nebraska’s state broadband map—which was carefully designed and included a wealth of local input—received a major jolt with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s changes to the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The map is now inundated with industry data from unlicensed fixed wireless (ULFW) providers.

Congress allocated $405 million to Nebraska to bring broadband internet to all unserved and underserved locations in the state. Following the release of NTIA’s June 6, 2025, policy notice, the total count of eligible locations for funding from Nebraska’s BEAD program was reduced from 29,597 to 14,288, a 52 percent reduction in eligible locations. 

Local governments throughout Nebraska are sending letters to their state legislators, congressional delegation, and Governor Jim Pillen to voice their concerns about the BEAD changes.

Local governments’ key complaint is that the Nebraska Broadband Office’s BEAD map challenge process, which took place in 2024, has been overwritten to implement NTIA’s BEAD changes. Many county governments were active participants in the challenge process. The process allowed ISPs, local governments, and other organizations to submit data to the state regarding locations that should be eligible—or ineligible—for BEAD funding. The ULFW verification process, implemented to align with NTIA’s June 6 guidance, supersedes the challenge process, undermining the efforts of local governments and communities. The local governments say that the state’s new list of eligible locations will leave rural communities and unserved homes and businesses in Nebraska with second-class connectivity.

The Southeast Nebraska Development District created a map to illustrate the number of eligible locations eliminated per county and combined that data with information about which counties have already sent letters voicing concerns. Douglas County, which contains Omaha, lost the most locations of any county in the state—1,737 or 85% of its eligible locations due to the new BEAD guidelines. 

Unlicensed Fixed Wireless Providers Say They Already Serve Thousands of Locations

ULFW technology was originally ineligible for BEAD funding because the Biden NTIA considered it unreliable. ULFW providers use publicly available spectrum frequency bands as opposed to leased or licensed bands. Generally, relying on publicly available spectrum can lead to interference from nearby networks, frequent signal degradation, and a shorter signal range.

In NTIA’s June 6 policy notice, states were required to remove locations from their list of eligible locations where an ULFW provider provides service at or above 100/20 Mbps with less than 100ms of latency. States were given some flexibility regarding the ULFW verification process. NTIA decided that states “shall determine whether ULFW providers have presented sufficient evidence to address these concerns and are therefore qualified to apply for BEAD funds.” States can do this based on speed tests, technical specifications on towers, or additional criteria.

Nebraska was unique in its approach to ULFW verification. The Nebraska Broadband Office had already gathered basic information (speed and latency) from ULFW providers earlier in 2025 and opted not to request additional information about network reliability, scalability, and other parameters. Other states have had far fewer—in many cases zero—locations removed from their list of eligible locations. It seems that when faced with these sorts of specifications, ULFW providers are often unable to meet them. In Nebraska, no such specifications were required, even when the state had the opportunity to change its criteria. 

Counties Want Their Homes and Businesses Connected Through BEAD

Seward County Commissioner Misty Ahmic led much of the outreach effort for the local government letter campaign. Commissioner Ahmic noted that when the BEAD program was established, local leaders educated themselves on broadband technologies, wrote letters of support to preferred ISPs, and participated in “challenge after challenge” to correct the state’s broadband map. Now–with the state’s implementation of the new program rules–those efforts seem fruitless.

“They no longer care about reliability and affordability for our constituents," said Ahmic "rather getting it done as cheaply and quickly as possible. We always compare this to rural electrification—did we rush through that and do it as cheaply and quickly as possible? No.”

Rural Nebraskans believe these changes to BEAD eligibility have vitiated the goal of the program to bring affordable, reliable high-speed internet throughout the United States.

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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