Eliminating the program seems unlikely, considering the NTIA is already far along in awarding grant money to the states.
As the incoming Donald Trump administration’s telecom policy priorities crystallize, it is increasingly evident that certain government subsidy programs could face heavy scrutiny by an administration that has publicly expressed a desire to roll back regulations and slash spending.
One program likely under the microscope: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s $42.45 billion broadband subsidy boondoggle known as the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Designed to expand high-speed internet access to all Americans, the program instead sits dormant. Fortunately, policy reforms can help get it up and running.
In recent months, lawmakers have criticized various aspects of BEAD, including that no projects are underway more than three years after the program’s creation. Some senators are now even calling on the incoming Trump administration to “pull the plug” on the program.
While eliminating the program seems unlikely, considering the NTIA is already far along in awarding grant money to the states, serious reform is in order. Congress should direct the NTIA to axe unnecessary program requirements and adopt a technology-neutral approach to deployment.
The BEAD program has admirable aspirations. An outgrowth of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the program aims to connect the 24 million Americans still without high-speed internet access. It hopes to do so by awarding federal money to states and territories which they can then use to administer grant programs within their borders.
Unfortunately, the program includes a wide range of political wish list items that have little to do with universal connectivity and have had the practical effect of slowing its implementation. Last year, Senate Republicans described many of the most problematic in a letter sent to NTIA leadership.
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Nate Scherer is a policy analyst with the American Consumer Institute, a nonprofit education and research organization. For more information about the Institute, visit us at www.TheAmericanConsumer.Org or follow us on X @ConsumerPal.