The battle over whether and how states will use non-deployment funds from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program shows no sign of being settled. This week, senators from two states introduced a bill aimed at creating a structure for allocating the funds.
The bill was introduced by Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia). A tremendous amount of money — the press release cites estimates of $20 billion to $22 billion — will remain available after the deployment phase of the BEAD Program concludes.
If the Supporting U.S. Critical Connectivity and Economic Strategy and Security for BEAD Act (SUCCESS for BEAD Act) becomes law, non-deployment funds would:
- Be awarded via competitive subgrants (with limited workforce exceptions)
- Give priority to projects that improve infrastructure in rural areas, enhance public safety or national security, strengthen network resiliency and cybersecurity, support federal or military facilities, reduce network latency, or advance artificial intelligence (AI)-related technology
- Generally require a 25% match, with waiver authority
- Create a mandatory public challenge process before awarding subgrants for wholesale fiber projects to prevent unnecessary overbuilding, with clear standards for valid challenges and transparency requirements
“The SUCCESS for BEAD Act is a timely, pragmatic proposal that helps ensure every non-deployment federal BEAD dollar delivers the greatest possible benefit for the American people,” Jonathan Spalter, the president and CEO of USTelecom–The Broadband Association, said in a press release.
“Once a state completes its deployment plan, any remaining funds should be put to work advancing the security, resilience, and long-term performance of our communications networks—especially as connectivity becomes more central to public safety, economic growth, and U.S. technology leadership.”
The battle over how BEAD non-deployment funds will be administered appears to be growing. Last week, the Trump administration released an executive order preventing states from receiving the funds if they do not have AI policies in line with the administration’s policies.
Earlier in December, about 160 state legislators from both parties sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Arielle Roth — the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — asking that the remaining BEAD non-deployment funds be released.
