NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson cleared up some questions about the agency’s rules for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access & Deployment (BEAD) program this week at Mountain Connect 2022. Under the BEAD program, each of the 50 states will be eligible to receive a minimum of $100 million to expand high-speed internet access, according to Broadband Breakfast. Most states will receive hundreds of millions more as additional funding will be allocated to states based on a formula that takes into account how many unserved households are in each state.
One question Davidson discussed was the letter of credit requirement that subgrantees must acquire to qualify for funding. A number of ISPs and local officials interested in municipal broadband projects are saying the requirement is onerous and may prove to be a disincentive for new entrants into the broadband market now dominated by the big monopoly ISPs, reports Broadband Breakfast. Davidson said his office too, has heard those concerns and NTIA may adjust the rules based on that feedback.
Will states with preemption laws that prevent or erect barriers to municipalities, cooperatives, nonprofits and other public entities from accessing BEAD funds be disqualified from BEAD? Davidson said the NTIA will urge states not to drop publicly-owned broadband projects and if they propose to do so they must disclose why, notes Broadband Breakfast.
Davidson expects LEO satellite technology will have a role, according to Telecompetitor. When asked about the May 13 Notice of Funding Opportunity ruling out satellite broadband, Davidson said: “I don’t think that there will be no money going to satellite.” Davison expanded on this topic: “We do expect there will be some states very focused on fiber deployments. We expect there will be other states where other technologies, including satellite, will be an important part of the mix,” he said.
The issue of how to distribute the funds is complicated, he acknowledged, noted Telecompetitor. “We do not want to be coming back five years from now, ten years from now and saying we need more money, we need to upgrade these networks,” Davidson said.
He said the Notice of Funding Opportunity isn’t the final word. “We fully anticipate there will be more technical assistance and more written guidance coming out from NTIA on issues that we may have not fully addressed.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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