Feds approve first batch of finalized BEAD plans

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced this week it approved 18 states and territories’ plans to build out broadband, and that those plans would save taxpayers $6 billion.

NTIA gave its approval to the final proposals under the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program from Louisiana, Wyoming, Iowa, American Samoa, Georgia, Arkansas, Delaware, Guam, Maine, New Hampshire, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Connecticut, South Carolina, North Dakota, Hawaii, Montana, Rhode Island and Virginia.

One state — Louisiana — also signed its award amendment, meaning the state can now access BEAD funds to start delivering on its broadband projects. That state was one of three to receive final approval for its plan under former President Joe Biden. The revised final plans, which come on the heels of NTIA and the Department of Commerce announcing various “critical reforms” to the BEAD program earlier this year, have driven down costs and advanced “innovative solutions” for consumers, the agencies said.

"We are delivering the Benefit of the Bargain through the BEAD program that best serves the interests of the American people," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement. "After stripping away burdensome rules and regulations and wasteful requirements, taxpayers will save billions in unnecessary costs while connecting those in need to high-speed broadband through the full spectrum of broadband technologies."

NTIA said it has received final BEAD proposals from 53 of the 56 states and territories, and estimates that the “total savings for American taxpayers” will amount to at least $21 billion, a figure that is in line with recent research from the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute at New York Law School. Researchers at ACLP had various suggestions for how to spend that excess money, including a rainy-day fund to defray unexpected expenses and a seed fund for a second round of grant bids.

But so far, NTIA has been tight-lipped on the future of any leftover BEAD money. Administrator Arielle Roth, a program critic who was tapped to lead the agency by President Donald Trump, said last month she was “pleasantly surprised” by the progress states have made and predicted “tremendous success” in future broadband buildout projects.

"The Trump Administration is on track to deliver universal connectivity in the United States once and for all, with huge cost savings for the American people," Roth said in a statement. "The Final Proposals approved today show that the Benefit of the Bargain reforms are working and that our focus on results and strong oversight is paying dividends for communities across the country."

ACLP’s research suggested that a combination of factors have helped drive down costs, including existing programs that have helped get more locations online, as well as the various rule changes Lutnick unveiled earlier this year. Those rule changes included dropping the preference for expensive fiber projects and changing to a “tech-neutral” approach, as well as removing requirements around labor, climate change and others. NTIA also changed rules to encourage lower bids to serve locations with broadband.

And those efforts have caught the attention of federal lawmakers. At a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, Richard Hudson, a North Carolina Republican who chairs the subcommittee, said the nation is “on the verge of closing the digital divide.” But he said that BEAD will only be successful if the permitting process is changed to get shovels in the ground quicker.

“But for this program to succeed, permitting reform is essential,” Hudson said in his opening statement. “Otherwise, all this money will be tied up in unnecessary reviews and bureaucratic delays. We cannot let the millions of unserved and underserved Americans continue waiting for the connectivity they need simply because we failed to modernize outdated rules … We should not allow red tape and outdated bureaucracy stand between Americans and the connectivity they need to work, learn, innovate, and thrive.”

Democrats on the panel criticized Republicans for reworking the BEAD program, slowing it down and, they alleged, undermining its progress.

“Republicans spent years demonizing the Biden Administration for the time it took to carefully execute a massive, highly prescriptive broadband program to connect all Americans to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet,” Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat who is the ranking member of the committee, said in his opening statement. “But now, almost a year later, Republicans have not connected a single household to high-speed internet. In fact, the Trump Administration continues to delay the program, guaranteeing that rural and low-income communities get slower and less reliable internet service — and they are breaking the law to do it.”