Information Technology and Innovation Foundation

After President Trump expressed disagreement with media reports regarding damage to planes in Saudi Arabia, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr followed up with renewed promises to take regulatory actions against broadcasters based on the content they air.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) appreciates the opportunity to provide input on NTIA guidance regarding permissible use of BEAD nondeployment funds. First, both the statute and the Assistant Secretary recognize the purpose of BEAD is to close the digital divide, so BEAD nondeployment funds should address the leading causes of the digital divide, namely barriers to home broadband adoption which includes affordability.1 NTIA’s Benefit of the Bargain Round and tech-neutral reforms were a success, and they enable BEAD to close home broadband deployment gaps while cre

The U.S. broadband market is experiencing even stronger competition than in years past, driven in large part by technological convergence and new players entering the home broadband market. Where once home broadband service was only available from incumbent cable or telephone companies, new technologies have entered the fray, and incumbents themselves have had to reconceptualize their networks around broadband rather than specialized video or voice service.

Local government officials are often taken in by the allure of government-owned broadband networks (GONs) when told by activists or consultants that they are superior to relying on private providers. While a GON could be the least bad option if no private providers are willing to invest, build, and operate, GONs are typically a suboptimal choice. Comparisons between GONs and private Internet service providers (ISPs) are often asymmetric—overlooking favoritism toward GONs and hostility to private deployment.

Adoption is now the primary barrier to closing the digital divide. While deployment subsidies have been the bread and butter of broadband policy for decades, now that implementation of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program is underway, broadband policy must retool for a future that prioritizes adoption efforts to address the leading causes of Internet non-use rather than the dwindling problem of lack of deployment. Digital inclusion efforts that can address adoption gaps