NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson appeared before the House Communications and Technology Subcommittee yesterday in an oversight hearing.
A majority memo to full House Energy and Commerce members before the hearing explained that oversight of the NTIA’s administration of broadband grant programs “has been a priority this Congress.” The BEAD grant program in particular “will require continued scrutiny to ensure funds are used to close the digital divide and not to overbuild existing networks,” note GOP committee leadership.
The GOP committee leaders cited the previous $4.7 billion Broadband Technology Opportunities Program grant program that NTIA oversaw. “A number of the projects funded with this money overbuilt existing broadband networks. The Government Accountability Office issued reports assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of [the program] in meeting its statutory and program objectives, finding that the NTIA did not have adequate data identifying reliable broadband availability in underserved and unserved areas. The Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General found that [the program’s] size and complexity presented the NTIA with significant challenges, particularly with staffing, which led to delays, inefficiencies, and miscommunications.”
Under BEAD, the NTIA will provide grants to states, who will then distribute subgrants of that money to broadband providers to deploy last-mile broadband with speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps to unserved and underserved locations.
“NTIA has been working closely with states and territories to ensure that they submit two strong proposals by the December 27, 2023, deadline. To date, all 56 states and territories have put their proposals out for public comment and begun to submit them to NTIA,” Davidson testified.
NTIA is also working with stakeholders to ensure that the program sets states and territories up for success, according to Davidson. An example he cited concerned the BEAD letter of credit requirement that stakeholders said could be a barrier to participate in the program. “We issued a waiver providing specific alternatives that will encourage participation from a wide range of providers, while at the same time protecting taxpayer dollars,” he said and Inside Towers reported.
BEAD is also a jobs and manufacturing program, he explained. “Under NTIA’s proposed approach to the Build America, Buy America provision of the [Infrastructure Law,] we expect that the vast majority of BEAD funding spent on equipment will flow to companies manufacturing that equipment here in the United States,” Davidson emphasized.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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