Panel Advocates for Using BEAD Non-Deployment Funds to Reach Missed Locations
BEAD is unlikely to bring broadband to every unserved and underserved location in the U.S., and much or all of its estimated $21 billion in non-deployment funds should be set aside to address those missed spots, speakers said Monday at the Silicon Flatirons conference in Boulder, Colorado. There must be discussions now about what infrastructure support, if any, is needed to reach missed locations, said Giulia McHenry, AT&T's senior vice president of public policy.
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Other conference sessions addressed the FCC's prison jamming proposal, spectrum allocations and sharing, the AI bubble and the future of independent agencies like the FCC (see 2602020055 and 2602020023).
Michael Santorelli, director of New York Law School's Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute, said BEAD will end up covering about 3.9 million locations, but it appears to be missing 1.2 million others. That doesn't account for some inevitable BEAD program contract defaults, he noted. Plus, he said, some locations aren't eligible for BEAD funds now because they're receiving state or Capital Projects Fund money, but if that falls through, they can't then be added to the BEAD list.
Santorelli and other panelists said a BEAD reserve fund of money not currently earmarked for deployment could be used in a second round of BEAD to cover missed locations.
Jennifer Epperson, deputy general counsel at the North Carolina Governor's Office, said the U.S. is "making significant progress" toward universal connectivity, but there needs to be focus on issues like affordability and adoption as well. However, federal policy isn't likely to prioritize affordability and adoption, making it incumbent on states to prioritize policies and funding to fill those gaps, she argued.
Santorelli also stressed the need for support of programs beyond universal access. The federal Digital Equity Act "was a good start" at trying to address digital literacy, but its $2 billion "was paltry" compared with what's needed.
BEAD's big challenge now is implementation, said Stephanie Weiner, a fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for Technology Law & Policy. The U.S. has a somewhat poor track record on implementation of big infrastructure programs, she said, pointing to the sizable number of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund defaults. States need to set up clear milestones for receiving funds and monitor risk in order to intervene early if issues arise, said Weiner, who until last year was NTIA chief counsel.
David Don, Comcast's senior vice president of public policy, said that with BEAD now in the money allocation stage, the focus should turn to barriers to deployment, such as permitting and pole attachments. Some states are starting to tackle permitting reform, and hopefully they can be a model for others, Don said. He called on state and local governments to prioritize getting the manpower and processes in place to review permits quickly. State governments also need to clarify when ISPs have rights to access private easements, Don said, because while utilities typically have access through state law, that often doesn't apply to cable or telecom providers.
NCTA CEO Cory Gardner warned about the dangers of federal spending on overbuilding. He also raised a red flag over China's position on the 6 GHz band. While the cable ISP industry is prepping "for a whole new wave of Wi-Fi expansion" via access to the 6 GHz and 7 GHz bands, China "is aggressively moving on the world stage to drag others backwards," he said, citing its opposition to the U.S. position on 6 GHz as a major example.
Gardner argued that the U.S. needs to prioritize its leadership in spectrum, including preservation of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi use. That requires greater U.S. attention on global standards bodies, where the country "has lost significant ground over the last decade."