Departing NTIA Head Says Exactly What He Thinks Will Happen to BEAD

As you probably know by now, leadership at the NTIA is shifting, with Arielle Roth set to take over NTIA and the BEAD program upon confirmation. That means Evan Feinman is moving on. 

In an email leaked to the press, Feinman took the opportunity to speak his mind on the new administration’s plans for BEAD and had strong words about the proposed changes. While not all of it was negative, much of it was critical.

What Feinman said about the future of BEAD

“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” wrote Feinman.

He did not take issue with some of the proposed decreased regulatory requirements, including climate and labor, but he severely criticized the possibility of delays that could be caused, particularly in the group of states nearly ready to begin construction.

“States will have to be advised that they should either slow down or stop doing subgrantee selection,” said Feinman, regarding the possibility of major overhaul.

Regarding the elimination of the fiber preference, Feinman said funding of satellite service could be moderate or dramatic, depending on if states are forced to pick the cheapest option to deploy.

Feinman also believes that fixed wireless will be “effectively shut out” of BEAD, since satellite deployment will nearly always beat out wireless in cost to deploy.

SPEED for BEAD

As for how things are shaping up in Washington regarding BEAD, a bill, called the "SPEED for BEAD" Act has been introduced to alter the BEAD program's language to align with the already stated priorities of the new administration.

The bill aims to replace the word “equity” with “expansion” for the letter "E” in the BEAD acronym (giving critics the catchy turn of phrase, 'BEAD without Equity is just BAD.')

SPEED for BEAD is an attempt to put into law amendments to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to align with the priorities of the new administration, including the elimination of requirements that were added under the last administration, and to make BEAD technology neutral, removing the fiber preference. A handful of industry groups, including the Fiber Broadband Association, have expressed support.