Much of the regulatory news of 2023 was devoted to massive government outlays of broadband deployment funding. It appears 2024 will be too, as NTIA expects to distribute the bulk of its $42.5 billion in the BEAD program grants to states in the New Year, though some could stretch to 2025. The timeline is later than officials had earlier predicted. In turn, the states will invite companies to apply for the grants.
In December, Louisiana became the first state to have both of its preliminary BEAD grant proposals approved by NTIA. In receiving the approval, Louisiana now has access to 20 percent of its $1.3 billion allocated BEAD funds. The state will be able to receive its full allocation after it has completed its state map challenge process, selected the subgrantees responsible for building out the broadband networks in Louisiana, and submitted its final proposal to NTIA.
States have the option of breaking up their proposals. The first document outlines how the state plans to accept and process challenges to government data on broadband availability, an effort to get as accurate a picture as possible of which homes and businesses in the states lack adequate internet.
Part two details how a state plans to administer grants from its BEAD allocation. BEAD grant proposals were due to NTIA by December 27, 2023. The FCC updated its broadband location maps so regulators know where to direct deployment funds. The agency plans to continue the updates on a rolling basis.
As of July 1, the FAA enabled AT&T and Verizon, who had paid a combined $82 billion for their C-band licenses at auction, and other carriers, to operate their 5G networks at full power on 3.7 GHz near airports. This was the last portion of a phased-in rollout. After extensive talks with the FAA, carriers AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and UScellular agreed to some voluntary actions to make that happen.
Airline lobbying associations protested that airlines needed more time to either replace their radio altimeters or install filters to prevent anticipated 5G interference to their nearby frequencies. No such interference had been reported by press time.
The White House nominated telecom attorney Anna Gomez to fill the empty Democratic seat on the FCC. She was a senior adviser for the State Department’s Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy where she led U.S. preparations for the International Telecommunications Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2023. Gomez is also a former staffer at NTIA and the FCC. The White House nomination came after the nomination of the previous nominee, Gigi Sohn, couldn’t pass the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee.
The full Senate approved Gomez, and the re-nominations of Brendan Carr and Geoffrey Starks, to additional five-year terms. It had been more than two years since the FCC had a full complement of commissioners.
Shortly after, the FCC voted 3-2 to approve a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking reestablishing the FCC’s authority under Title II to create what Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said was strong uniform net neutrality standards. Part of the effort is closing a loophole that hinders the ability of the agency from preventing foreign actors from attacking U.S. broadband networks and data because the FCC lacks the authority to do so, according to agency officials. There’s also language in the item to preserve the FCC’s auction authority.
Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington opposed the effort. Carr said the changes aren’t needed and are “unlawful.”
Several industry trade groups, including CTIA, agreed. CTIA President/CEO Meredith Attwell Baker said: “The wireless industry champions keeping the internet open and our networks secure and resilient. The FCC’s action today only undermines our ability to achieve those goals while also putting at risk American competitiveness.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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