No Way to Run a Railroad

Since Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s arrival at the helm of the Commerce Department, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program has gotten a bit off track. In recent days, a fact sheet of sorts has been circulated, ostensibly authored by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), claiming to “debunk lies” by “swampy special interests” about BEAD. The document is in response to concerns among industry the public interest community that the administration has again changed the rules for a $42.5 billion program, established by Congress back in 2021, aimed at ensuring everyone has fast, reliable, affordable internet access. The sheet insists that the NTIA, under Secretary Lutnick, is “restoring integrity” and looking out on behalf of the taxpayers by making sure we get the “benefit of the bargain,” as he likes to say. I do not think he is succeeding at these aims.