More than 100 state legislators from both parties have sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick asking that the remaining non-deployment funds from the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program be released.
The letter was signed by more than 160 state legislators. The vast majority of signatories were Democrats.
The letter, which was also sent to Arielle Roth — the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) — said that it was Congress’ “clear intent” to release non-deployment BEAD funds and that it is required to do so under Section 60102(f) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
The letter says that non-deployment funds are used for tasks such as building artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, streamlining permitting and pole attachment processes, developing the telecom workforce, improving middle mile and cellular networks, enhancing cybersecurity and emergency services, expanding telehealth and education opportunities, and fostering broadband adoption and affordability.
The letter does not say how much money collectively is meant for non-deployment uses. The pot is huge, though. Two states — Texas and North Carolina — have more than $1 billion available and most will have access to hundreds of millions of dollars.
“The scale of non-deployment will allow states to improve virtually every aspect of their connectivity,” according to the letter. “This unprecedented opportunity was created in direct response to NTIA’s call for efficiency. To now deny states the funds their efficiency generated would penalize success and undermine BEAD’s purpose.”
This is far from the first time that questions have been raised about BEAD non-deployment funds. For instance, in late August, ten members of the House of Representatives sent a letter to Lutnick and Roth asking for clarification on how the funds would be managed.
