ACA Connects

ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association sent a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Arielle Roth urging NTIA to strengthen its prohibition on rate regulation in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer commended NTIA for restoring BEAD’s main goal of connecting unserved and underserved locations expeditiously.

This report examines the impact of broadband rate regulation on investment and competition. The study explores: 1) The state of the broadband market today 2) The nature of rate regulation and where it’s used and 3) The impact of  rate regulation on broadband. 

USTelecom and more than 30 other broadband industry groups sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo covering several ideas for how the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) can remedy the issues posed by the rates being approved for the low-cost service option requirement in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD)Pprogram.

On May 30, ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer wrote to Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson to urge the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to make sure small and medium-sized wireline broadband providers have a fair opportunity to compete in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD).

ACA Connects–America’s Communications Association, the Fiber Broadband Association, and NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, and the Fiber Broadband Association encouraged the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to “stand its ground” in prioritizing fiber projects and maximizing the deployment of fiber networks as Congress intended under the Broadband Access, Equity, and Deployment (BEAD) program amid calls for the agency to reject or weaken initial proposals submitted by some states and territories. In 

ACA Connects, in partnership with Cartesian, announced the release of “BEAD Program: A Framework to Allocate Funding for Broadband Availability – Version 4.0.” This newest version, using data from the latest National Broadband Map, estimates that when States and Territories begin to select broadband deployment projects, 6.4 million unserved and underserved locations will be eligible for Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding and that the program should be able to

NTCA—The Rural Broadband Association and ACA Connects—America’s Communications Association strongly support the proposal to amend a “program comment” issued by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) in 2017. Recognizing that telecommunications undertakings “typically [do] not result in adverse effects to historic properties,” in 2017 the ACHP adopted a streamlined process for communications providers’ compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the installation of certain categories of wireline and wireless communications infrastructure on federal

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program's Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) directs States and Territories to include in their Initial Proposals “a middle-class affordability plan to ensure that all consumers have access to affordable high-speed internet.” ACA Connects believes each State and Territory should provide a rational basis for its plan and justify its methodology.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’s (IIJA) $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program holds out tremendous opportunity to close the broadband availability gap.

A framework for how each state and territory can spend Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funds on fixed broadband – principally fiber -- projects to connect their unserved and underserved locations. The framework includes both a national analysis and an analysis for each state with the latest data to estimate the number of unserved and underserved locations and the amount of BEAD funding that will be allocated to each jurisdiction. Includes fixed broadband deployment scenarios using that funding and matching funds from providers.