NTIA warns states: Don’t try to lower broadband prices

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is telling states they will be shut out of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program if they set the rates that Internet service providers receiving subsidies are allowed to charge people with low incomes. In its latest BEAD FAQ, NTIA challenges states considering laws that would force Internet providers to offer cheap plans to people who meet income eligibility guidelines. Although the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires Internet providers receiving federal funds to offer at least one "low-cost broadband service option for eligible subscribers," it also says the NTIA may not "regulate the rates charged for broadband service." NTIA points to the latter language in its argument that ISPs alone must choose the price of the low-cost option. The new version of the BEAD FAQ says that states may not require specific rates for the low-cost service option (LCSO), even when required by state law. The BEAD law "prohibits NTIA or the Assistant Secretary from engaging in rate regulation," the FAQ said. "Because the Assistant Secretary must approve the LCSO in the Final Proposal, the rate contained may not be the result of rate regulation." The NTIA released a BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice (RPN) in June. The RPN eliminated Biden-era "requirements dictating price and other terms for the required low-cost service option," the FAQ said. "Per the RPN, states may not apply state laws to reimpose [low cost option] requirements removed by the RPN... Violation would result in rejection of the Final Proposal."