Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act

Congress allocated Wisconsin $1.2 billion to improve broadband connection across our state. It was our share of the largest telecommunications investment in US history. Internet connection is required to access government forms, healthcare documents, and even homework, and it is the government’s responsibility to connect households that wouldn’t otherwise be served. “By law, Wisconsin designated almost $364 million to cover ‘non-deployment’ tasks such as pole attachments, workforce development, and cellular infrastructure.

For years, federal and state governments have been working to expand internet connectivity, especially in rural communities. In 2023, Congress allocated about $42 billion for states through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program. States were gearing up to start those projects, but in June, the Trump administration pressed pause and issued new guidance. Mike Sanders, the executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, says his state's plans had to change. The Trump administration wanted states to consider different types of technology and the lowest cost options.

The Government Accountability Office's (GAO) “Broadband Programs: Agencies Need to Further Improve Their Data Quality and Coordination Efforts.” (Report No.

The United States is about to make the largest broadband investment in our country’s history. This investment—the $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD—has the potential to drive high-quality, affordable broadband to every last home and business in rural America. But BEAD’s historic levels of deployment will put historic pressure on permitting authorities. And this is especially true in rural areas, where permitting capacity is lowest and BEAD activity will be highest. Such permitting bottlenecks are a fundamental threat to BEAD’s success.

When Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in late 2021, inflation was still “transitory,” interest rates were near zero, and tens of millions of Americans lacked access to high-speed internet. Lawmakers warned that only a massive federal investment could close the digital divide.

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Chief of Staff Brooke Donilon confirmed that locations recently defaulted on in the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will not be eligible to be included in NTIA's Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. “At some point we just had to draw a line and get to the 'Benefit of the Bargain' program,” Donilon said. “We can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good here. We have to get communities connected.

This DRAFT Report and Order would eliminate the professional engineer certification requirement for the biannual Broadband Data Collection (BDC) filings and instead allow the biannual filings to be certified by a qualified engineer.  An engineer certifying BDC filings would be considered a qualified engineer if they meet minimum experience and educational requirements relevant to broadband network design.  The Report and Order also clarifies that a certifying engineer does not need to be a full-time employee of the company filing BDC data.

On March 13, 2025, West Virginia was poised to achieve one of the greatest broadband successes in America. The state, which currently ranks last in broadband availability, had crafted a plan that would connect every West Virginian home and business to fast, reliable internet service by the end of the decade.

Our administration is fully committed to delivering high-speed internet access to all West Virginians as quickly and efficiently as possible. Contrary to the myth that West Virginia is dragging its feet, the opposite is true. Under our leadership and with the full support of President Donald Trump, we are moving faster, smarter, and more collaboratively than ever before. We are proud to partner with Secretary Howard Lutnick and his team at the U.S.

Oklahoma’s broadband director is, like many of his counterparts, looking for flexibility from the Trump administration as his office administers its slice of a $42.45 billion federal broadband expansion program. Mike Sanders, executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office since 2023, said the office has been setting up meetings with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and federal lawmakers from his state to make his case. “Flexibility is what we’re wanting the outgrowth of those meetings” to be, he said.