NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and ACA Connects–America’s Communications Association, which represent broadband, video, and phone services in rural and small suburban markets, urged the NTIA to prioritize the most reliable high-speed internet technologies for BEAD projects. NTCA and ACA Connects recommend that NTIA only approve “alternative technologies” like LEO satellite-delivered broadband as a “last resort.”
The trade groups assert that NTIA’s alternative technology guidance should “neither be seen nor taken as an excuse to water down the strong priority for scalable networks” established by the Infrastructure Law and BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity. Both “recognize that fiber can deliver speeds necessary to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses over many decades,” they said in comments to NTIA. “Rather, states and territories should only use alternative technologies to reach eligible locations where no provider is willing to deploy fiber or other reliable technologies on a reasonable basis, as measured over the economic life of the network.”
NTCA and ACA Connects emphasize that NTIA should prioritize fiber “to as many locations as possible before turning to other reliable broadband technologies.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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