Commissioner Gomez: Preserve Remaining State Control of BEAD

Federal Communications Commissioner Anna Gomez said the Commerce Department should not overrule state decisionmaking as part of the agency’s $42.45 billion broadband expansion program. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration handed down new rules for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program in June, rescinding Biden-era approvals and requiring all states to hold an additional round of bidding. “When it comes to federal infrastructure investments like BEAD, the government should place trust in the communities the investment is meant to serve,” she said. “States that submitted plans for the use of BEAD funding after months of planning and analysis have been told to start over, and not because their plans lack merit. That’s not right.”