NTIA Revamps BEAD Program to Speed Up Deployment
Since the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued its first Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) guidance for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that was created in the 2021 Instructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has raised concerns about the non-statutory prescriptive requirements that have led to the failure to date to spend any of the funds for broadband deployment in unserved and underserved communities across the country. The Trump administration has finally fixed many of these issues, which will enable BEAD funding to finally be provided to the states.
During a June 4, 2025, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies hearing on the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request for the Department of Commerce, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that he would be releasing a new NOFO soon, and that states would have 90 days to revise their applications. Secretary Lutnick indicated that he anticipates funding being distributed by the end of 2025.
On June 6, 2025, NTIA released the new NOFO, which addresses many of the concerns raised by CAGW. It removes restrictive and burdensome non-statutory requirements related to labor, employment, and workforce development; climate change requirements; open access and net neutrality restrictions; preferences for non-traditional broadband providers like local governments or political subdivisions; and the middle-class affordability and low-cost plan requirements that impose price controls on broadband service.
It also redefines an eligible low-cost program subscriber from a household that qualified for the Affordable Connectivity Fund to a household that qualifies for the Federal Communications Commission’s Lifeline program, resolving an issue that was identified in CAGW’s October 2024 BEAD issue brief. The NOFO also encourages technology neutrality, rather than prioritizing a single technology, which allow states to identify the best technology to connect individual communities.
The new NOFO is a good example of how the Trump administration is taking a commonsense approach to federal spending. While oversight by Congress as always is critical, the flexibility provided to the states should speed up deployment and help prevent wasteful spending. And if the number of underserved and underserved households across the country is substantially reduced it would further prove that there is no need for 133 broadband programs across 15 federal agencies.
