I keep seeing articles or podcasts speculating on what the new administration and Congress might change in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment grant program. This all seems like speculation to me since only a few people really know what might happen, and I don’t think they are the ones talking. There is one thing that definitely has occurred. A large chunk of the industry that was expecting to participate in BEAD is largely on hold—and feeling the stress. That group includes the many internet service providers that have filed or plan to file BEAD applications. It also includes State Broadband Offices that are marching on with the program, but spending a lot of energy speculating on what they might have to rework, and worrying that they’ll not have enough money to do this all a second time. The group feeling the most pain are the vendors expecting to sell to BEAD grant winners. The group has already had a few letdowns, and now they see the process entering April 2025 with no idea of when grants will be made and when ISPs might start ordering equipment. 

Rep Dave Taylor (R-OH-02)  introduced the Expanding Appalachia’s Broadband Access Act, which aims to increase access to broadband for rural communities across Appalachia. The Expanding Appalachia’s Broadband Access Act will direct the submission of a request to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study on the capabilities of low-orbit satellites operated under the purview of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). This study would additionally assess the capabilities of low-orbit satellites for business services to ensure these satellites can meet businesses’ needs. It would also require an evaluation of economic development in areas already utilizing low-orbit satellites to determine the increase in resulting economic growth. If favorable results are produced from this study, the Expanding Appalachia’s Broadband Access Act will allow for the potential inclusion of low-orbit satellites in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Governor Kathy Hochul highlighted the launch of Phase 4 of New York State’s Municipal Infrastructure Program Request for Applications, making nearly $50 million available to support broadband infrastructure projects across the state. MIP connects unserved and underserved communities to high-speed internet through open-access and publicly controlled broadband infrastructure. To date, ConnectALL has awarded over $240 million, enabling the construction of almost 2,400 miles of fiber and connecting nearly 100,000 locations statewide. The new Phase 4 Application expands the program to nearly $300 million, drawing on funds from the US Department of Treasury Capital Projects Fund.

At least two states—Maine and Minnesota—have contacted the U.S. Department of Commerce concerning the changes that may be made to the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. Minnesota’s suggestions about BEAD came via a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick from Bree Maki, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Office of Broadband Development. The requested “volume 2” changes are a reduction or elimination of program and reporting requirements she characterized as “excessive.” The letter also requested four administrative task changes. The Maine Connectivity Authority, also in a letter to Secretary Lutnick suggested four steps that it said would accelerate and improve the program. The letter was signed by Andrew Butcher, the president of the authority. The suggestions were high level (i.e., recognizing that “[s]tates and territories are key to success” and that it is important to “[i]nvest in the right technology for the right place”).

The Department of Government Efficiency should live up to its name and propose lasting reforms that improve government efficiency. Freeing up federal spectrum for commercial uses presents such an opportunity. For that to happen, however, the agencies that control much of the nation’s spectrum need a better incentive to give some of it up. Spectrum is the foundation for the ubiquitous wireless technologies that have become essential for businesses and consumers. Federal agencies also are major users of spectrum: it is an important input for mission-critical activities performed by the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and many other agencies. But since there is no market test, we don’t know whether the agencies that control this spectrum are using it efficiently or whether the allocation of spectrum between the public and private sectors is efficient. 

[Thomas M. Lenard is President Emeritus and Senior Fellow at the Technology Policy Institute. Lawrence J. White is Robert Kavesh Professor of Economics at the NYU Sloan School of Business.]

Why is the government risking a return to a healthcare regulatory regime that results in worse outcomes, less access to care and higher costs? The motives are unclear, but that would be the outcome if Congress lets the current regulatory framework for telehealth and hospital-at-home lapse, which it will if not renewed in 2025. The arguments to extend the waivers, as laid out in a letter from more than 350 healthcare organizations, are powerful.  Extensions will:

• Provide certainty for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to maintain access to clinicians and services they are using virtually and to hospital care at home.
• Strengthen our healthcare workforce by enabling more clinicians to provide needed services and allowing for investment in flexible, virtual staffing models that address workforce shortages while maintaining high-quality healthcare.
• Encourage investment in the technology and infrastructure needed to offer telehealth and hospital-at-home services, particularly for providers serving underserved communities that cannot afford to invest in these tools without an ensured reimbursement pathway.
• Allow health plans and employers to design and offer benefits leveraging telehealth and hospital-at-home services.

Rhetorically, the administration appears to agree, but with deadlines looming, rhetoric is not enough. Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must act to extend these waivers in a longer-term and more meaningful way than including them in short-term continuing resolutions. 

[Shira Hollander is a healthcare attorney. Lisa Tripp is a healthcare attorney and co-wrote the CMS hospital-at-home waiver. Blair Levin was executive director of the 2010 National Broadband Plan.]

It is the policy of the United States to modernize its processes to attract substantial domestic and foreign investment in the United States and to actively assist those building here for the benefit of our Nation’s economic prosperity to unleash investment from our small businesses to the largest companies. Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, shall establish within the Department of Commerce an office named the United States Investment Accelerator (Investment Accelerator).  The Investment Accelerator shall facilitate and accelerate investments above $1 billion in the United States by assisting investors as they navigate United States Government regulatory processes efficiently, reduce regulatory burdens where consistent with applicable law, increase access to and use of our national resources where appropriate and consistent with applicable law, facilitate research collaborations with our national labs, and work with State governments in all 50 States to reduce regulatory barriers to, and increase, domestic and foreign investment in the United States. The Investment Accelerator shall be headed by an Executive Director and staffed with legal, transactional, operational, and support staff as directed by the Secretary of Commerce.  The Investment Accelerator shall be responsible for the CHIPS Program Office within the Department of Commerce, which shall focus on delivering the benefit of the bargain for taxpayers by negotiating much better deals than those of the previous administration. The Investment Accelerator shall identify any existing mechanisms, exceptions, and opportunities in Federal law that can be used to assist foreign and domestic investors, consistent with the protection of national security. 

Lumen Technologies and Ciena have collaborated on a successful 1.2 terabit wavelength service trial across 3,050 kilometers (more than 1,800 miles) on Lumen’s Ultra-Low-Loss fiber network, the longest 1.2 Tbps non-regenerated signal across the globe. Lumen and Ciena used 800G interfaces to successfully test and qualify the services to support wavelength, Ethernet, and IP services over the 1.2 Tbps single carrier channel. According to Lumen, the successful trial is important because artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, and security demands are pushing data transmission speeds to new limits. The jump to 1.2 Tbps wavelength services unlocks next-gen AI, cloud and data-intensive applications while improving scalability and network efficiency, an important development for hyperscalers and similar enterprises.