Targeting Overbuilds and Improving Coordination Among Agencies. Under Commissioner Brendan Carr, expect to see a new approach to broadband funding that is focused on encouraging coordination of broadband funds among agencies and eliminating the government-funded overbuilding of existing networks. Commissioner Carr has noted that although hundreds of billions of infrastructure dollars have been appropriated by Congress and budgeted by agencies in recent years, federal broadband efforts are “fragmented and overlapping, with more than 100 programs administered by 15 agencies,” which he says risks “overbuilding as well as wasteful duplication.” To combat this, Commissioner Carr has voiced support for the adoption of a new strategy designed to facilitate coordination between the various agencies responsible for awarding broadband funds.
BEAD. Expect a review of the handling of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program under the new Trump administration. Republicans have questioned the effectiveness of the $42.5 billion program and purported delays in the deployment of funding to states. Republicans have also criticized the BEAD Program’s focus on fiber-optic cable deployment over other broadband technologies, claiming it overlaps with existing federal subsidy programs and is ripe for waste, fraud and abuse. Commissioner Carr has slammed certain aspects of the BEAD Program, including “diversity, equity and inclusion requirements, climate-change rules, price controls, preferences for union labor, and schemes that favor government-run networks.” Former Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker predicts that the second Trump administration “will be in a much better position to remove these extraneous constraints,” which he noted were put in place by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) “without statutory authorization.” Sen. Ted Cruz similarly indicated that “substantial changes are on the horizon” for the program, and that Republicans will “consider every option” to address the BEAD Program’s shortcomings, including the elimination of “unlawful and onerous bureaucratic obstacles imposed by the Biden-Harris NTIA,” once they take over the majority in Congress. In light of the expected review and revision of the BEAD Program, on November 21, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson requesting that NTIA “pause unlawful, extraneous BEAD activities and avoid locking states into in any final actions.” Experts are split on whether such a review will speed the process of rolling out BEAD Program funds by clearing bureaucratic red tape, or further delay the rollout by meddling with a complex project that is already in progress. Republicans have also been highly critical of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) broadband maps, which are used to determine which areas should be eligible for broadband funding, including through the BEAD Program.
Affordable Connectivity Program. Congress will also need to look at the future of the FCC’s now-expired Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which helped low-income Americans purchase Internet access. One option that has been discussed is to fold it into the Universal Service Fund (USF) program or Congress could fund it separately, although Senate Commerce Committee leadership has voiced opposition to appropriating any new funding to the program. There is bipartisan support for ACP, but Republicans have sought reforms before agreeing to additional funding, including new eligibility requirements, cutting the monthly funding amount and new verification requirements.