Although Phileas Fogg famously traveled around the world in 80 days, at a Senate Appropriations hearing, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick outlined a more ambitious task: completing Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding by the end of 2025. Secretary Lutnick floated a new notice of funding opportunity (known as an NOFO) for the BEAD program with requirements for states to be “tech agnostic” or “tech neutral” and nevertheless claimed final awards could go out before the end of the year.

The details remain scarce. States had expected BEAD revisions via “NTIA guidance” after a “rigorous review” announced by Secretary Lutnick in early March. A new NOFO may mean more extensive changes to states’ existing plans and planned awards. Secretary Lutnick said states will be required to apply within 90 days, but what that means for states and subrecipients remains unclear.

Also unclear is what Secretary Lutnick means by “tech agnostic” or “tech neutral.” In an exchange during the hearing with Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Secretary Lutnick promised quick approval of state proposals “as long as you are technologically agnostic and you agree to provide the broadband at the cheapest price per use.”

Secretary Lutnick also suggested that BEAD would be refocused on just broadband access. Everything else—which he called “noise”—would be eliminated. The law that created the BEAD Program allows states to fund broadband adoption efforts, including providing affordable internet-capable devices.” West Virginia, for example, was planning to use $30 million of its BEAD funding to train West Virginians for good-paying jobs and build the talent needed to support the broadband industry. Lutnick’s testimony indicates that he may eliminate such uses of BEAD funding.

Around the BEAD in 180 days?

As you read this on June 4, with 210 days left in the year, you might think Secretary Lutnick is setting the right goal. But is it feasible?

First, Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—which still awaits Senate confirmation of Arielle Roth to lead the agency—will have to get the Federal Register to publish a “new” (we assume Secretary Lutnick meant “revised”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (known as a NOFO).

As President Donald Trump noted just last month, “The Office of the Federal Register frequently takes days or, in some cases, even weeks to publish new regulatory actions.” The Archivist of the United States and the Office of the Federal Register are working on a plan mandated by President Trump to create “increased efficiencies” in the Federal government’s public record process.

Once published in the Federal Register, states will have to review the new BEAD rules and determine if they must restart their BEAD bidding processes. Some state laws for distributing BEAD funding were based on the NTIA’s original NOFO. So, in some cases, changes in BEAD rules could require changes in state legislation. Some state legislatures do not even meet during the summer months. Per Secretary Lutnick’s testimony, states will have 90 days to complete these reviews and submit applications.

Even in states that wouldn’t require new legislation to adjust to new BEAD rules, the revised BEAD NOFO could force a state broadband office to change its administrative rules and/or state NOFO. Some states could also have to revisit their mapping challenge process to recalculate eligible locations. These steps, one state broadband office estimated, could delay the release of BEAD awards by up to two years. Unfathomably, Secretary Lutnick expects each state—with their unique laws and regulations—to finish the process in 90 days.

If states somehow can meet Lutnick’s new 90-day deadline, Secretary Lutnick would give NTIA staff just 90 days to review all the BEAD applications.¹ That would appear to be a big job, considering applications will be coming in from each state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Expect a lot of midnight oil to be burned at NTIA.

Phileas Fogg fans will recall the many unexpected delays he endured to complete his trip around the globe, and that’s the thing about timed challenges: unexpected delays. Secretary Lutnick delayed BEAD once to get to this point, where he thinks he’s accelerating the program. But that delay and the changes he may impose, at the end of the day, could add up to even more delay.

Secretary Lutnick is scheduled to testify before the House Appropriations Committee on June 5. We await more clarity, perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Notes

1. It is unclear what Secretary Lutnick was referring to by “application,” but if he means the Final Proposal, then it would include the full bidding processes and awardees.

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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