La. Hopes to Maintain BEAD Speed; Miss. PSC Election Rivals Seek Internet

Louisiana means to keep its lead among states in broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) planning, even with a change in governors, said ConnectLa Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar in an interview. Louisiana last month picked Jeff Landry, now the state's attorney general, flipping to red a Democratic seat held by term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards. Ahead of more elections across the country Tuesday, Mississippi Public Service Commission candidates told us they want to ensure all their citizens have internet access.

In another key Mississippi race, NARUC ex-President Brandon Presley (D) seeks to replace Gov. Tate Reeves (R). The only other gubernatorial race Tuesday is Kentucky incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear (D) versus AG Daniel Cameron (R). In state legislative elections, Virginia’s GOP-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate have majorities at stake next week, Ballotpedia said. Mississippi and New Jersey legislatures also have elections Tuesday, while Louisiana’s takes place Nov. 18.

Louisiana Gov.-elect Landry won enough votes last month to avoid a runoff election that would have happened Tuesday. Landry didn’t comment on Louisiana’s broadband office and if he will seek any changes in strategy or leadership. An NTIA dashboard shows Louisiana leads states and territories in progress planning for BEAD (see 2310180059 and 2310180059).

Louisiana’s broadband leader hasn’t met Landry yet, but Iyengar said he expects the governor-elect will want to keep up the momentum, especially because broadband access is “a bipartisan issue” affecting every part of the state. Departing Edwards pledged to close the digital divide by 2029, “so it will be under the governor-elect’s … watch” that the goal is realized, said Iyengar. “My sense is he’ll keep doing this because it’s important” for “all the sectors that we all care about in Louisiana.” Iyengar expects the state to continue its current strategy given positive feedback from industry and other stakeholders. It’s “TBD” if Iyengar will continue in his role under the next administration, he said.

Louisiana awaits NTIA approval of volume two of its initial BEAD proposal in about five to seven weeks, said Iyengar. It was the first state to receive NTIA approval for volume one. Meanwhile, a challenge process should wrap up in the first week of January, he said. The state broadband office has kept ahead of others despite having a relatively small team of three and forming only in 2020. Iyengar attributes that success to frequent communication with NTIA, a strategy of anticipating what the federal government will do, and the office pushing for state legislation to enhance processes. As an example of the latter, lawmakers passed a bill this year to require companies to provide the broadband office quarterly progress reports about deployments using federal funding that the office doesn’t itself administer, he said.

Mississippi PSC Election

Mississippi is the only state with utility regulators up for election this year. While three seats are up, only one race is competitive: incumbent Brent Bailey (R) versus state Rep. De’Keither Stamps (D). Developer Nelson Carr (R) is running uncontested for another PSC seat after beating incumbent Dane Maxwell (R) in the primary. State Rep. Chris Brown (R) is also uncontested.

After Bailey narrowly defeated Stamps in the 2019 election, Stamps won a 2020 special election for state representative and subsequently joined the House Public Utilities Committee. Stamps thinks he has the edge on Bailey this year due to deeper relationships that the Democrat formed with industry while on the committee, he told us: “Even though I fell short by 0.4%” in 2019, “I think I'm at least 0.5% better” this year.

“Beyond food, water and shelter … you need internet and cellphone service to live in 2023,” said Stamps. But at campaign events, nobody raises their hands when the Democrat asks who has reliable services, he said. Everyone should have access to a minimum level of service, no matter the ZIP code, but currently some places have no service, said Stamps: It may not be feasible to provide 5G wireless everywhere, “but we should be able to say that everyone in Mississippi deserves some level of baseline service.” The PSC “doesn’t regulate broadband specifically” but it does regulate telcos including AT&T and Verizon, he said.

The COVID-19 pandemic showed “the severe lack of broadband internet across Mississippi,” Bailey emailed us. The state’s $1.2 billion from BEAD “will certainly be a tremendous help to boost deployment of broadband across the state,” said the Republican, but more funding will be needed to reach everyone. “Large areas of Mississippi continue to lack access to broadband or cannot afford the subscription price. There is little financial incentive for traditional providers to build infrastructure in the most rural areas. It will require significant resources to provide equitable access.” Bailey added that many rural areas lack reliable wireless connectivity.

While the commission lacks “direct regulatory authority over broadband services in the state, broadband expansion is a top priority” and the PSC “will continue working with" the state’s broadband office “to achieve the delivery of broadband to every business and household that desires the service,” the Republican said. Bailey noted the PSC has eligible telecom carrier (ETC) authority “and is responsible for ensuring FCC Form 481 and ETC Certification Checklist compliance in order for carriers to receive federal funding support to build and deploy service to high-cost, unserved areas.”

Former Mississippi PSC Commissioner Presley trails Reeves in the governor’s race, show recent polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight. Presley has been active on telecom policy since joining the Mississippi PSC in 2008, including raising concerns last year about potential provider abuse in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program (see 2201250028). As NARUC president November 2019 through November 2020, he launched a broadband task force (see 1911270024) and was active in prodding Congress to allocate significant funding in COVID-19 aid bills for increasing broadband buildouts (see 2003260063).

Reeves signed off on an executive branch broadband office in 2022 (see 2204150013). Earlier this year, the Republican approved a bill to transfer robocall enforcement authority to the state AG office from the PSC (see 2303230027). Stamps, the PSC candidate, co-sponsored both bills.