FCC's Carr Beating BEAD Over Deployment Rollout Time Frame

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr is maintaining a constant drumbeat about what he calls the slow tempo of the broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program rollout. On July 29, he posted on X that it's 987 days since BEAD was enacted and "0 Americans have been connected, 0 Shovels worth of dirt turned." On Aug. 4, it was 993 days. "While there’s time to course correct, the trend line is not good," he posted Aug. 6. In his posts, he frequently lays the blame at the feet of Vice President Kamala Harris. His tweets repeatedly say that in 2021 Harris "agreed to lead a $42 billion plan to expand Internet service," and "no one has been connected."

Echoing Carr's criticism, Rep. John Joyce, R-Pa., called the time frame "unacceptable."

In an interview Wednesday, Carr told us the problem is NTIA's focus on issues other than speed of deployment. Accelerating BEAD would require taking a more tech-neutral approach that favors fiber but also gives greater consideration to fixed wireless and low earth orbit satellite, Carr said. Some state volume 2 BEAD plans that have received NTIA approval include LEO and fixed wireless components (see 2405160007). Carr said Harris could change course to focus on speed and ditch any other considerations. Carr said accelerating BEAD also requires "eliminat[ing] the [diversity, equity and inclusion] agenda [and] the climate change agenda ... which has nothing to do with just connecting people." Analogous federal spending programs, Carr said, are on track "to turn dirt much more quickly" than BEAD. While retooling would take time, Carr said BEAD would still be "in a much better place in terms of speed of deployment."

Carr and Joyce met this week with the Broadband Communications Association of Pennsylvania to discuss BEAD concerns. BCAP said the state's classification of prevailing wages is driving up project costs. Also problematic is the BEAD program's definition of affordability being too low, which could prevent providers from applying, it said.

"The BEAD program is on track and is moving at the timeline that Congress intended when they designed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law," NTIA emailed us. Congress directed the agency "to ensure that a plan was in place for each state prior to writing multi-million and billion dollar checks. Additionally, this program is running in parallel with federal investments going to states where homes and businesses are already getting connected because of these investments," it said.

While everyone wants to see the money go out as quickly as possible, WTA members "would much rather get this right" than have money go out too quickly without due diligence to prevent overbuilding, Derrick Owens, senior vice president-government and industry affairs, told us.

While BEAD "holds tremendous promise to close the digital divide," it's "overly burdensome and restrictive requirements will put the success of the program at risk by limiting how far the money goes and deterring participation from experienced community-based providers," ACA Connects President Grant Spellmeyer said in an emailed statement. "In that regard, we are encouraged that NTIA recently approved a low-cost service plan for Virginia that gives providers flexibility and is aligned with marketplace realities. It’s a step in the right direction. NTIA should also encourage greater flexibility in the size of project areas, so that smaller providers have a fair opportunity to compete.”