NTIA Hears Wish List of Uses for $21B in BEAD Non-Deployment Money

NTIA officials didn't indicate in the listening session when the agency will reach a decision on uses of the non-deployment funds.

Ellis Scherer, a policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said the Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act (IIJA) was explicit that BEAD's goal is closing the digital divide. The program will fail if it addresses only deployment needs and not affordability, he argued, so NTIA should let non-deployment funds go toward state affordability support, such as $30-a-month vouchers for low-income households that meet eligibility requirements.

Sophia Bock, a principal associate at Pew's Broadband Access Initiative, called for the money to go toward speeding up deployments and related workforce needs and to support demand for connections. While some states might benefit from subsidizing pole replacement costs, others might need the money for workforce training, she said. "A one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work for deployment.” Bock also said that before states can cut checks to subgrantees, there should be clear accountability measures.

Michael Santorelli, executive director of New York Law School's Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute, said an ACLP analysis indicates that BEAD will leave an estimated 1.1 million locations that are without 100/20 Mbps internet service and still unfunded. A portion of the $21 billion should go to seed a reserve fund for a second BEAD round to address those unfunded locations, as well as defaulted locations, he said. “Defaults are inevitable,” and there needs to be a plan for addressing them. Santorelli also advised that the money be used for offsetting permitting and pole attachment costs, as well as for demand-side state programs.

Drew Garner, director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, said the IIJA clearly lets states promote affordability, and NTIA should let them tackle broadband adoption issues through programs that provide affordable, internet-capable devices. Garner said the agency also should preserve state discretion on how non-deployment funds get used. Congress' goal for BEAD was to tackle every facet of the digital divide, not just having networks pass homes, he added.

AARP urged that the money be allowed to go toward digital skills training, particularly for older adults. The Competitive Carriers Association called for NTIA to let it be used for mobility-related projects.

About 25% of the digital divide is concentrated in multifamily dwelling units, and fiber often runs past them but not into the building itself, said Jenny Miller, senior director of government affairs and policy at EducationSuperHighway. She endorsed "strategic, one-time investments" in MDUs, such as in-building wiring, paid for by BEAD, which would deliver "far greater return on investment than many proposed last-mile builds."

Treasury Talk

There also were calls for BEAD non-deployment funds to return to the Treasury Department for deficit reduction.

Foundation for American Innovation Senior Fellow Luke Hogg warned against turning BEAD “into another open-ended broadband spending program.” James Erwin, director of innovation policy at Americans for Tax Reform, argued that BEAD was created as an infrastructure program, “not as a permanent welfare program” to subsidize device costs. The $42.5 billion BEAD budget was a guess at what it would take to provide universal connectivity, not backed by data, Erwin said.

Deborah Collier, vice president of policy and government affairs at Citizens Against Government Waste, said states must not be allowed to spend money on building government-owned networks, on overbuilding networks or on projects that have nothing to do with providing connectivity. Timothy Lee, the Center for Individual Freedom's senior vice president of legal and public affairs, said that whatever non-deployment funds aren't returned to the Treasury should go toward streamlining permitting processes, such as beefing up staffing at permitting offices.

Mobile Connectivity, 911, Tribal Projects

NTIA heard a number of other speakers advocate for BEAD spending on mobile needs.

Christian Hoefly, senior corporate counsel for policy strategy and analytics at T-Mobile, urged that once a state meets its in-home connectivity obligations, it should be allowed to put a capped portion of BEAD non-deployment funds toward eliminating persistent rural mobile dead zones. "This is not an expansion of BEAD [but] finishing the job for the same rural communities BEAD was designed to serve," he said, noting that there could be safeguards to limit the overlap between BEAD recipients. He said 6,000 macro sites, costing about $8 billion, could extend modern 5G coverage to 99% of Americans for the next decade.

Kristen Jaarda, Motorola Solutions' director of government affairs, said letting the non-deployment funds go toward next-generation 911 and other public safety communications needs, such as high-capacity backhaul, could lead to better response in disasters, as well as enhanced day-to-day coordination among first responders.

Joseph Carella of Entrust Solutions Group, an engineering consultancy, said the per-location BEAD costs for some tribal projects are often far beyond NTIA guidelines, and thus they likely will remain unserved or underserved. He urged waiving performance bond requirements for those projects and recommended that unallocated BEAD funds go to the next round of the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program.

Sachin Gupta, vice president of business and technology strategies at Oklahoma's Central Rural Electric Cooperative, said BEAD money is associated with providing broadband access to rural America, and that should be the priority for the savings. Subsidizing affordability, particularly for community-owned networks, would let them lower operating costs, with the savings being passed on to subscribers, he said. A huge expense for co-ops is often purchasing direct internet access, generally from a sole provider "who tends to gouge you."

Sharon Pinkerton, senior vice president of policy at Airlines for America, said there's a big telecommunication and public safety element to the modernized national air traffic control system that the administration is working toward. She said it will require additional funds beyond the $12.5 billion allocated by Congress, and some BEAD non-deployment funds could go toward that modernization effort.