Carr at Incompas: FCC Moving at 'Breakneck Speed'

"The statute that Congress passed [for BEAD] said that we should proceed in a technology-neutral way," Carr noted. NTIA "put just way too heavy of a thumb on fiber." He said he looks forward to working with NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth as a partner on broadband deployment. He also welcomed permitting reforms to help speed up the process.

"Unfortunately, this administration seems to be focused on tearing things down rather than building things up and I keep hoping we will turn away from the partisan culture wars and instead focus on our core priorities," said FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in a separate speech at the conference. Gomez raised concerns about the "aggressive campaign that we are seeing out of this administration to bring broadcasters and social media to heel" and "seeing government threatening private company decisions on labor practices."

Gomez stressed the need for a multi-stakeholder partnership to ensure the USF remains sustainable long-term. "It's not easy coming to consensus, but it really needs to happen," she said, and the FCC "can provide some leadership and discussions." Gomez also said "Congress is the one that has authority" over Section 230 of the Communications Act. "What you're seeing is an attempt by government to bully social media companies," she said. "It's very dangerous," Gomez added: "I think that the government should stay out of private company decisions to create an environment that consumers desire."

Several panelists expressed optimism about Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's anticipated programmatic changes to BEAD. "We have a number of subgrants ready to go," said ConnectLA Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar, and "we absolutely believe in the reforms that Congress is pushing." It's "a great start," he said, noting that Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) wrote Lutnick in January with suggested changes (see 2501240064).

The Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment (Speed) for BEAD Act is "more of a messaging act" from lawmakers to encourage NTIA to move forward on certain programmatic changes, said C Spire Vice President-Government Relations Chris Champion (see 2503050067). Champion backed Landry's letter. "We like the changes that are coming, and we're OK with a little delay" if those changes come.

"We've always appreciated the sense of urgency" in connecting people, Iyengar said. In Louisiana, officials have focused on "making sure that whatever infrastructure we invest in, we knock it out at once so we don't have to ever deal with broadband issues for the rest of our days."

The goal of getting broadband to unserved and underserved communities hasn't changed, but "the path to getting there may be shifting," said Hogan Lovells Senior Associate Ryan Thompson. It's likely that some of the changes will relate to "affordability, prevailing wages, project labor, agreements, union workforces, climate resilience, open access networks, and [diversity, equity and inclusion] initiatives," Thompson said. What states will be able to do with any excess BEAD funding after implementation is also a "big point of contention," he said, but increasing flexibility in the program should increase provider participation.

Other panelists emphasized delays caused by permitting, rights-of-way and other regulatory barriers. "We have not had to coil up our fiber at the edge of somebody's right-of-way, but we think about that, and we worry about that," said James Hoffman, Alabama Fiber Network's vice president-external and customer affairs.

Conterra Networks Senior Counsel Ben Sanborn cited issues his company often encounters. For example, communities that haven't entered into a franchise agreement before may have a lot of questions and require education, he said. On some federal properties, getting signatures to continue projects can be time-consuming, he added. "We are stuck in a situation where we are trying to figure out how ... we make all of these projects move forward in a way that works for everybody."

The "most significant policy issue we have ever faced, full stop," is paying taxes on broadband deployment costs, Hoffman said. Sanborn agreed and said "the real concern is that the dollars are finite, and it's hard to justify" taxing the funding that came from taxpayer dollars.

State and local governments can help providers by ensuring there's a single point of contact when a company is working with an agency, said Ariane Schaffer, GFiber's head of public policy and government affairs. Schaffer emphasized the need for greater transparency, suggesting that officials provide companies with a list upfront of what needs to be done before a deployment project. She also encouraged a "community-software solution" for submitting and approving permitting requests, because some applications still must be submitted by fax. "We truly cannot get to communities on the other side of the track" because of permitting and right-of-way delays, she said.