Cruz Hails NTIA's BEAD Rules Rewrite
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised NTIA’s rewritten rules for its $42.5 billion BEAD program, which require states to reapply for the money (see 2506060052). Panel ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have strongly criticized NTIA and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (see 2506090051).
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Cruz noted in a Tuesday statement that he warned in 2023 (see 2309150069) that “the Biden administration’s technology bias and burdensome requirements would drive up costs and stall broadband buildout. ... Wasteful and irrelevant edicts on climate change and [diversity, equity and inclusion] hindered and, in many cases, outright prevented providers from serving Americans most in need,“ he said. ”After four years of bureaucratic busywork, the Biden administration failed to connect a single American to the Internet.”
“Kudos to [Lutnick] and the Trump administration for reversing course and refocusing BEAD on its core objective: connecting Americans to the Internet as expeditiously and efficiently as possible,” Cruz said. “This guidance prioritizes value, ensuring that the American taxpayer isn’t on the hook for excessive Biden-era rules that would have spent more than $100,000 per connection in some spots. Now is the time to finish the job. I am confident that NTIA, under the leadership of [Trump and Lutnick], will do just that.”