Telecom Execs Urge BEAD Revamp Ahead of House Communications Hearing

Lobbyists expect the hearing to feature significant clashes between House Communications Republicans and Democrats, given GOP leaders' choice to title the event as an examination of the Biden administration’s “Broadband Blunder” (see 2502260069). They expect lawmakers to particularly clash over BEAD because Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz of Texas, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie of Kentucky and other GOP leaders have eyed a revamping of the program (see 2501150056) after repeatedly criticizing NTIA’s rollout of BEAD under then-Administrator Alan Davidson. Cruz said in November that the 119th Congress would review BEAD and requirements that have drawn GOP criticism. He sought a “pause” in NTIA BEAD activity ahead of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House (see 2411220035).

Spellmeyer says he remains “confident that the transformative potential of the BEAD program … will be realized,” but “it will require some targeted changes to get there.” Congress “should direct NTIA to strip out costly and extraneous requirements that are not directly related to providing connectivity and that have only served to inflate costs” and “deter participation from prospective bidders,” Spellmeyer says. He wants lawmakers to “affirm that subgrantees can meet” BEAD’s low-cost service option requirement “by offering the lowest rate they offer at non-BEAD locations in the same State or, in the alternative, offering a rate that meets the FCC’s Urban Rate Benchmark.”

Competitive Carriers Association CEO Tim Donovan says any “targeted improvements” to BEAD “do not need to inject significant delays and will speed up expanding connectivity.” BEAD “must ensure that all technologies are available to deploy fixed connectivity,” and lawmakers “should empower local providers that best know how to connect the communities they serve to select the technologies that make the most sense for each situation,” he says: Congress should also “avoid conditions that make BEAD participation prohibitively challenging, including labor requirements that can be particularly challenging in rural markets; uncertainty regarding other aspects that set artificial benchmarks that frustrate technological neutrality; and needlessly challenging permitting processes.”

LTC Connect CEO Greg Hale says Congress should “closely” review several parts of BEAD, but “these changes need not" result in "a substantial rewrite of the program. We have already waited long enough for this program to launch, and there are efficient ways to recalibrate specific pieces to make it more effective while it continues to move forward.” He suggests that “NTIA could articulate a more reasonable approach to the ‘low-cost option’ that better reflects those challenging economics of operating in rural areas.” Further “changes with respect to relaxing the letter of credit requirements, workforce obligations, and other policies that do not relate directly to broadband deployment should likewise be considered for guidance from the agency.” Hale cautions against “overcorrecting in a way that could undermine the long-term efficiency and effectiveness of the program.”

Universal Service Concerns

Donovan and Hale also raise concerns about the effect of a Supreme Court ruling in favor of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-7 en banc decision invalidating USF’s funding mechanism (see 2501090045). SCOTUS will hear the case, FCC v. Consumers' Research, on March 26. A House Commerce GOP memo warned that if the high court "finds the USF unconstitutional, Congress will need to address the delegation issue or rural broadband providers may no longer receive USF funding."

“Where legislative action is needed for meaningful contribution reform, Congress should provide the FCC with clear directives to sustain USF going forward,” Donovan says. “Additionally, policymakers should affirm the important role of USF for ongoing operational support.” Congress “should consider whether and how ‘big tech’ companies ... should contribute to USF.”

Hale calls for “prompt, thoughtful, and well-crafted action by Congress [that] could help to dispel uncertainty that otherwise might hang over the USF to the detriment of millions of rural and low-income Americans and schools, libraries, and rural healthcare facilities across the nation.” He says he also believes "it is essential to reform who contributes to the USF,” including changes ensuring “that contribution responsibility is shared reasonably and equitably among all users of the underlying networks that universal service seeks to promote.”

The House Commerce Committee, meanwhile, advanced an amended version of the Precision Agriculture Satellite Connectivity Act (HR-1618) and five other communications bills, as expected (see 2503030029). The panel, before the Tuesday meeting, pulled the unnumbered Advanced, Local Emergency Response Telecommunications Parity Act from its agenda. The other cleared measures are: the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences Codification Act (HR-1455), Understanding Cybersecurity of Mobile Networks Act (HR-1709), DiasporaLink Act (HR-1737), NTIA Policy and Cybersecurity Coordination Act (HR-1766) and Promoting U.S. Wireless Leadership Act (HR-1765).