The National Information and Technology Administration (NTIA) was provided with $42.45 billion for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in December 2021.  To date, no money has been distributed to the states, due to the non-statutory, restrictive guidance provided in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) issued by NTIA and delays in approving state funding applications.  Only two states, Delaware and Louisiana, have received final approval for their broadband deployment plans by NTIA.  Small internet providers in Minnesota, have announced that they cannot meet the stringent requirements issued by NTIA, and will not participate in the program, which is likely to be repeated across the country. 

As noted in Citizens Against Government Waste’s report BEAD: Broadband or Bust,  several states were required to modify their applications to comply with the non-statutory stringent requirements in the NOFO.  Now, states are starting to rebel against the NOFO requirements.  On February 15, 2025, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar asked Congress to act to eliminate the low-cost broadband requirements contained in the NOFO, which he called “impermissible rate regulation.”  He noted that doing so would increase provider participation and make deployment of the funds more efficient.  

On February 13, 2025, the Advanced Communications Law & Policy Institute (ACLP) at New York Law School issued a report with recommendations to accelerate broadband deployment using BEAD funding, many of which CAGW had suggested in February 2024 including the elimination of the preference for government-owned networks.  ACLP proposed bringing the program’s rules into compliance with the BEAD statute; updating guidance to prohibit any form of rate regulation; providing clearer guidance on low-earth orbit satellite broadband; removing unrelated extraneous terms and conditions like prevailing wages, labor mandates, and climate resilience; usage-based billing; and prioritizing partnerships with established internet service providers that would prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. 

While many communities without internet access are desperately waiting for BEAD funding to be distributed by NTIA, Congress must revisit the requirements and preferences imposed by NTIA for BEAD funding and undo the Biden administration’s decision to issue guidance that has delayed and discouraged broadband deployment for the businesses and households in unserved and underserved areas of the country that want to be connected to the internet.