Federal Plan Changes May Reduce Nation’s Internet Connectivity

The Trump administration's changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program have disqualified hundreds of thousands of locations — including homes, businesses and community buildings — from receiving internet access. And the program's new technology-neutral approach will also shift a large portion of the federal funds toward satellite internet companies, including Elon Musk's Starlink, that cost less to build but have more uneven service than underground fiber optic cable. That means households and businesses that were looking forward to reliable, high-speed internet will no longer get support from the BEAD program. While some experts were initially skeptical about the program's goals, every state utilized its allocated funds to develop plans to provide high-speed fiber internet to nearly every home and business in the country, said Christopher Mitchell, the director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Most states are expected to get started on deployment projects in 2026. But the Trump administration's changes have undermined the major investment for rural areas, Mitchell said.