NTIA: BEAD Winners Can Continue to Receive Opex Subsidies for Existing Networks

Participants in the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program won’t have to forego their existing federal subsidies in non-BEAD areas, the Commerce Department clarified. Rural broadband providers have expressed concerns over the newly announced plan to prevent BEAD winners from taking operational subsidies to support their deployment projects in the future. A National Telecommunications and Information Administration spokesperson said the prohibition on operational subsidies 'applies only to BEAD-funded projects and does not affect existing subsidies in non-BEAD areas to which a provider is already entitled.'