The Sky is Falling!!!! (or Maybe Not)

On June 6, the National Telecommunications & Information Administration released a “Policy Notice” revising the prior Administration’s Notice of Funding Opportunity for the landmark $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, enacted by Congress as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act back in late 2021. The Trump Administration abolished the program’s preference for fiber, opened the program to bids from all technologies, rescinded prior approvals for three states, and directed the states to hold another round of bidding—the “Benefit of the Bargain” round—to select the lowest cost option, with Final Proposals due in 90 days. Many seem to assume that the decision will steer most of the BEAD funding to Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite service. I’m not convinced that outcome is inevitable. Here’s why: All technologies are now permitted to compete for BEAD funding, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be competing head-to-head in every geographic area. By law, states are required to pick “Priority Broadband Projects” over non-priority projects—and the states retain the power to determine which projects qualify as “Priority Broadband Projects.” 

[Carol Mattey is a former senior official from the Federal Communications Commission, where she led teams working on initiatives to modernize the FCC’s $9 billion Universal Service Fund to support broadband. She is currently the principal of Mattey Consulting LLC, which provides strategic and public policy advisory services to broadband providers and other entities seeking funding for broadband.]