The U.S. “got lazy” in the last 15 or so years about participating in standards-setting bodies and paid the price with China dictating standards for 5G, said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., at SCTE’s TechExpo event Tuesday in Washington. “China flooded the zone,” he said, while the U.S. hasn't been sending as many people to standards-setting bodies. China’s 5G success is a “wake-up call,” and industry and government should agree that the U.S. has “got to get back in the game” and invest resources in standards-setting efforts.
FCC commissioners on Tuesday approved 3-0 a Further NPRM seeking comment on whether correctional facilities should be allowed to jam cell signals, with an eye on curbing contraband phones. Commissioners also approved notices seeking comment on revamped wireless and wireline infrastructure rules and a direct final rule deleting other wireline rules.
The Benefit of the Bargain (BoB) version of BEAD is shaping up to be "a tremendous success," with state plans to date coming in $15 billion under what they were allocated, NTIA head Arielle Roth said Monday. Speaking at SCTE's TechExpo event in Washington, Roth said NTIA is also pressing states in some cases to submit cheaper final proposals.
Questionable maps, staff shortages and accountability concerns have pressured states as they participate in NTIA's $42.5 billion BEAD program, broadband experts said during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Flaws in the FCC’s broadband fabric and limited state capacity could leave millions of homes without service, while shrinking eligibility has already cut out up to 60% of locations that were eligible during earlier subgrantee rounds, they said.
Illinois released its revised draft Tuesday for its final BEAD plan under NTIA's "Benefit of the Bargain" round. The state received 66% more applications than previous rounds, with an average cost of about $6,100 per location, wrote Office of Broadband Director Devon Braunstein. That's 21% less per location than the state's previous round, she noted.
NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield warned that changes in the BEAD program could mean that many of the group’s members will sit it out though a good number are well positioned to participate. Departing next year after 25 years at NTCA's helm (see 2509170060), Bloomfield spoke with former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly during a Free State Foundation webcast. “This is a tougher business than people think it is,” she said.
NTIA's management of BEAD under the agency's revised rules is "no way to run a railroad, and no way to connect Americans to the fast, affordable, reliable internet we need," wrote Revati Prasad, executive director of the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, in a blog post Monday. Citing concerns from public interest advocates about another possible round of subgrantee selections, Prasad warned that the agency is going "off track" amid claims that it's requiring several states to revisit "some of the most expensive locations to connect and to do so in 72 hours."
A lawsuit against NTIA regarding use of the BEAD program's non-deployment funding "might be inevitable," wrote CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson in a blog post Friday. "It's hard not to imagine a coalition of State Attorneys General from red and blue states together suing NTIA" to get those funds, he said, citing Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's (R) letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emphasizing that how non-deployment funding is spent is up to the states.
With NTIA in the 90-day curing stage for states that submitted their revised final BEAD proposals by the Sept. 4 deadline, some broadband access advocates are claiming that the agency is requiring states to conduct another "Best and Final Offer" round based on price caps. They said a spreadsheet obtained by BroadbandMarketer's Doug Adams containing excessive cost thresholds suggests that NTIA will require states to reengage with subgrantees with overly high project costs.
Michael Powell is leaving NCTA on a high note, with net neutrality -- an issue he has dealt with and opposed for decades -- seemingly dead. "It was going to be really dispiriting to me if I retired, and we were now in a Title II environment, and I'm super excited that no, I can say that we slayed that dragon," the group's outgoing leader told us.