The U.S. Commerce Department is not likely to announce changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rural broadband funding program until June or July, according to a research note from Blair Levin, policy advisor for financial analyst firm New Street Research. Previously, an announcement had been expected around mid-May.
Levin pointed to the Senate’s recent nomination hearing for Arielle Roth as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. While Republicans tended to ask Roth softball questions, those from some rural states were a bit more probing.
For example, Republican Senator Shelley Capito of West Virginia politely asked if July would be a reasonable deadline for Commerce’s BEAD review to be completed. Roth declined to answer, but, according to Levin, “Capito, who has had private conversations with [Commerce Secretary] Howard Lutnick, is trying to both accelerate the decision while being friendly to a fellow Republican.
“Her citing a July deadline suggested to us that the decision could be delayed from May.”
BEAD Rural Broadband Changes
Levin continues to believe that Commerce is most likely deciding between two options:
- Imposing a federal high-cost threshold, shifting BEAD funds from fiber to satellite. This would require states that have already accepted applications to redo the process, causing a 12- to 18-month delay.
- Eliminating certain requirements, but otherwise allowing the application process results to stand. Although today’s research note didn’t detail what Levin meant by “certain requirements,” those requirements likely involve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), low-cost plans, and climate resiliency. In today’s note, Levin states that he is “certain that specific Biden rules will be eliminated.”
It’s possible that Commerce had been leaning toward the first option but is now reconsidering, perhaps because of concerns that more and more stakeholders, including Republican legislators, have been expressing.
Capito sent a letter to Lutnick yesterday that urged him to select the second option. While praising him for his plan to eliminate red tape in the program, she encouraged him not to force West Virginia to move “back from the one-yard line to the 40-yard line after the review concludes.”
She noted that West Virginia was six weeks away from completing the BEAD application process when the review was announced.
She also urged Lutnick not to impose a “one-size-fits-all cost cap,” pointing out that deploying high-speed broadband in a mountainous state like hers is naturally more expensive.
“In addition, certain technologies are not feasible in many areas, not only because of our challenging topography but also because 78% of the state is forested,” she said.
A group of Missouri stakeholders, a bipartisan group of state legislators, and others have also asked Lutnick not to delay BEAD.
