NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association CEO Mike Romano is calling for greater accountability in how the nation’s broadband funding programs are measured, arguing that ribbon cuttings and “locations passed” statistics fall far short of proving that billions of federal dollars from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program are delivering on the promise of Universal Service.
In a recent blog post titled “Accountability Starts with Showing Your Work,” Romano drew on a relatable analogy: the grade-school requirement to show your work in math class. Just as a student can’t simply write down an answer and expect full credit, he argues, broadband providers shouldn’t be able to point to network deployments alone as proof that they’ve fulfilled their mission.
“Those ribbon-cutting ceremonies are certainly nice enough,” Romano wrote, “but such celebrations and breathless press releases about locations passed will mean little to the rural broadband consumer the next day, month or year.”
At the heart of Romano’s argument is the distinction between building a network and actually serving people. With the BEAD program now shifting from a deployment phase to an accountability and implementation phase, he contends that policymakers and the public need real data — not just promises — to know whether federal investments are paying off.
To that end, NTCA has called for the public release of performance-testing data for networks funded by the BEAD program on a provider-by-provider basis. Romano envisions an “accountability dashboard” that would allow Americans to compare real-world speeds and latency, verify that service prices are reasonably comparable to those in urban areas, and track adoption rates to determine whether consumers are using the networks that taxpayers funded.
Romano extended the call for transparency beyond BEAD, saying he would welcome the same accountability standards across all broadband funding programs — and even for providers listed on the National Broadband Map.
“It’s time to stop guessing whether we’re spending money wisely or whether the mission of universal service is being fulfilled,” Romano wrote. “It’s time to start having providers show their work.”
The blog post reflects themes Romano has emphasized since taking the helm at NTCA. In an interview with Telecompetitor earlier this year, he said NTCA is a strong advocate for testing network performance for programs like BEAD and making the data public. He noted that the real “benefit of the bargain” from federal broadband spending needs to reach consumers, not just be declared at a press conference.
