Roth: NTIA to Turn Eye Toward Excessive Screen Use in Schools
NTIA is going to look into excessive screen use in schools by youths, with an eye toward what federal policies and incentives might be contributing to the problem, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said Tuesday at a Free State Foundation event. NTIA will also look at what market dynamics and marketing efforts are driving excessive screen use, she said.
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In addition, Roth said at the event that NTIA hasn't made final decisions yet on what will happen with BEAD non-deployment funds, but it's "operating under the assumption states will get to use BEAD savings." She added that NTIA has signed off on nine additional states' final BEAD proposals: Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Those are on top of 19 states and territories that received NTIA approval last month (see 2511200041 and 2511180007).
NTIA has planned a "virtual listening session" Dec. 10 about excessive screen use in schools. The agency said it will use insights from the session in "assessing the impacts of excessive screen use in schools, the role of federal rules and federal funding in shaping device and platform markets, and the practices surrounding the collection and use of children's data by education technology platforms."
Roth said trying to tackle excessive screen time was one of her priorities when she got the NTIA job, along with reforming BEAD and helping ensure greater commercial spectrum access. As a mom, she said, managing children's screen access "is hard enough" at home, but compounding that issue is the fact that so much schoolwork and pedagogy relies heavily on devices and connectivity.
Technology "has a role to play in education, of course," but kids are inundated with screens in ways that can harm development and are replacing hands-on learning and face-to-face interaction, Roth argued. She noted that students are often gaming or instant messaging on school-issued devices during classroom hours. Yet the greater access to technology comes as math and reading scores for high schoolers are declining, she said.
BEAD
Guidance about BEAD non-deployment funds will likely come early in 2026, Roth said. NTIA estimates that about $21 billion of the $42.5 billion allocated to states won't be needed for deployment efforts, she noted, citing reforms instituted for the BEAD program earlier this year, including dropping its fiber-centric focus. Any spending of non-deployment funds won't be allowed to duplicate private-sector efforts and must have "real, measurable value."
Benefit of the Bargain (BOB) reforms to BEAD are "not just about savings," but also protecting innovation and hewing closely to the legislation that created BEAD and its focus on universal connectivity, Roth said. A tech-neutral approach, instead of a focus on fiber, helps ensure no distorting consequences on broadband investments, she added.
Roth noted that as a result of those BOB reforms, Louisiana will connect more than 127,000 unserved and underserved locations for just under $500 million, instead of the roughly $1.36 billion the state was allocated. Instead of a cost per location as high as $120,000, now the highest is about $7,000. Other states, like Virginia, are also seeing sizable drops in the costs of their BOB plans compared with their previous iterations, she said.
Colorado said Tuesday that the approval of its final BEAD proposal lets it access $420.6 million in federal funds to provide broadband for 96,000 unserved and underserved locations. Wisconsin said its allocation will cover more than 175,000 locations.
Notebook
Roth said a priority for NTIA in 2026 is helping ensure that the U.S. has a strong, clear set of positions for the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference in Shanghai (see 2512010044). In the past, the U.S. blundered by not having clear positions in advance, she said, and the administration in particular wants to go into WRC-27 with a strong position on the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. Some adversary nations are promoting a different approach, she noted.
Roth also said NTIA has had "great conversations" with the FAA and DOD about a possible 2.7 GHz reallocation. In addition, the agency is starting talks with federal agencies about the 4 GHz band, she said, though that spectrum has numerous incumbents, including DOD and DOJ.
Phones in schools are "eroding attention, increasing stress, and fueling social conflict during the school day," the Phone-Free Schools Movement said Tuesday in a white paper. Citing its nationwide survey of 1,000 parents of children ages 9-17, the group said 58% of respondents say their child has experienced a negative consequence of device use during school, such as distraction, online drama or bullying.