'Meaningful Adoption,' Affordability Indicators of NTIA BEAD Success: Davidson

NTIA will “ultimately measure our success by meaningful adoption” of broadband as the agency implements the broadband, equity, access and deployment program funded through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, said Administrator Alan Davidson during a virtual USTelecom and AT&T event Friday. Affordability and adoption are “critical” to connecting households, Davidson said, and it “doesn’t help if we have a connection to somebody’s home if they can’t afford to get online or they can’t use it” (see 2206090072).

The agency's notice of funding opportunity for the BEAD program requires subgrantees to provide a low-cost service offering to receive funding. How states approach this requirement will vary, Davidson said, adding the agency’s hope is states structure their plans so connections are affordable “not just for the poorest Americans, but for middle class Americans, too.” States have also been asked to consider affordability as part of their criteria when awarding grants.

NTIA has been "off to the races” since releasing its NOFOs on its three IIJA broadband programs, Davidson said: The "next big step” is getting states to sign up and say they plan to participate. To date, 36 states and territories have responded, he said (see 2205240052).

It's "exciting that Congress … has given us the resources both at Commerce and our sister agencies to really do something about closing the digital divide,” Davidson said: “I really believe that this is our generation’s moment to connect everybody to the modern infrastructure [and] to connect everybody to the digital economy.” NTIA will rely on the FCC’s new broadband maps as the “definitive source of truth,” he said, and the maps “really need to be better.” Davidson said he’s “fairly confident” the maps will “ultimately be much better than what we’ve had before, but it’s a lot of work to get them to be good.”

The infrastructure law’s "buy American" provision is “an important issue” because it’s “designed to promote American jobs,” Davidson said (see 2205310049). NTIA understands there are “real challenges” in building telecom networks and has been working with the Biden administration on how waivers will be granted, he said. “I think the bar will be high,” Davidson said, and “we’re making sure we only do them when we need them.”

AT&T “feel[s] good about the rules” in NTIA’s NOFOs, said AT&T President-Broadband Access and Adoption Initiative Jeff Luong: “We believe that directionally we are heading in the right place." Placing an emphasis on fiber was “appropriate,” he said, because “that is the technology that will provide the greatest benefit” (see 2205130054). The ISP “would like to have a little bit more certainty and more clarification” about how the funding will be implemented and structured, Luong said.

“We are seeing the demand for greater and greater speed,” Luong said: “We believe that we should strive to try to get fiber connectivity … to as many communities as possible.” Getting “the maximum possible internet service” to Vanderburgh County, Indiana, with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act is “going to change our position completely,” said Vanderburgh Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave, saying the county is undergoing a $40 million project to expand access.

In Louisiana, the state “had a good sense on what our allocation was going to be” from the Treasury Department’s Capital Projects Fund and began focusing on unserved households with state grants, said Connect Louisiana Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar. Stakeholder engagement was “critical,” he said, adding his office is continuing to increase its staff to address the digital divide: “That's the approach that we're going to take with the infrastructure dollars.”

Louisiana submitted its letter of intent to NTIA for the BEAD program May 13, Iyengar said, and will soon submit its initial planning grant. “Hopefully, we’ll get the money and approval” within eight weeks and finish developing the five-year plan, he said. The state is nearly halfway complete with the plan with the goal of completing the necessary stakeholder engagement before year-end, Iyengar said.

Affordability “needs to be a main component of the broadband plan,” Luong said, and one concern is how to address the issue for the general population in addition to low-income consumers: “We do not believe, though, that government should be setting prices and setting rates in terms of what is the appropriate price to pay.” Musgrave said the “bigger factor” in Vanderburgh County is whether households can get access at all and the quality of their internet. State officials “have a tremendous job in front of them in translating this money down to the local level,” she said.