Trump’s Appointees Advocate for Cautious Approach to BEAD Program

President Trump’s choices to lead the Commerce Department and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) are chiming in on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The early indications are that their proposals for the program should benefit taxpayers.

Facing questions from U.S. senators at his January 29 confirmation hearing, Trump’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, indicated a desire to slow down the BEAD program. Lutnick went on to state that the government ought to examine carefully how best to spend the $42.5 billion in taxpayer money allocated for it, with little if any actually yet dispersed. The Commerce Department oversees the NTIA, which will administer BEAD.

Some senators expressed concern that the work their state officials have already completed could go to waste. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) asked Lutnick, “Can you commit that Nevada will not have to restart what has been a years-long process and will receive its full, allocated amount that Congress has allocated to it, under the BEAD program?”

In his response, Lutnick indicated that his greater concern is preventing taxpayer waster, saying “I can commit to you that if it has been rigorously done and deeply efficient and it is the most efficient use to get broadband to your constituents, then it’s easy for me to commit to it. But if there’s been errors and mistakes, you wouldn’t mind if we made it better?”

The NTIA, for its part, prioritized fiber over other technologies under the Biden administration. This bias influenced their approach to deliver broadband to Americans under BEAD. However, the Trump administration is likely to be more open-minded to alternative technologies such as fixed wireless and satellite to bridge the digital divide. 

The difference in infrastructure cost can be quite significant. The Fiber Broadband Association found that fiber construction typically costs $34,000 to $86,000 per mile. On the other hand, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in August, “I can bridge that gap with one Starlink kit, which is 500 bucks.” 

Although latency can be a major concern with technologies like satellite, that service could be used to connect residents of states such as West Virginia. There, hilly, rugged terrain can make fiber cost prohibitive in some places; satellite poses no such issues. One of the state’s senators, Sen. Shelly Capito (R-W.Va.), asked Lutnick during the confirmation hearing if the work in West Virginia might “start over at square one” for its $1.2 billion BEAD allocation.

Lutnick again emphasized the need to be smart with taxpayer money, stating that “The BEAD program should operate efficiently and effectively to allow West Virginians and all Americans to get the benefit of the bargain that Congress intended.”

Arielle Roth, whom Trump has picked to be the new administrator of the NTIA, has been more openly critical of the Biden administration’s heavy bias in favor of fiber. Roth has served as the telecom policy director for the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and an advisor to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). She previously worked as wireline advisor for former FCC Commissioner Michael O’Reilly. 

Roth said at an event of The Federalist Society in June that the lack of a tech-neutral approach is “just going to make the [BEAD] program more expensive.”

After her nomination, Roth received support from many telecom industry groups, including USTelecom, NTCA-The Rural Broadband Association, Comcast, and the Wireless Infrastructure Association. David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, said Roth’s work on BEAD “is especially encouraging, illuminating a path to correct that off-track program,” Fierce Telecom reported. 

It is encouraging to hear the rhetoric of Lutnick and Roth regarding the flagging BEAD program. Hopefully, they can get to work fixing that taxpayer boondoggle.

Johnny Kampis is director of telecom policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.