BEAD Buildout Expected to Continue Under New Administration

Government officials are working to calm concerns about disruptions to the nation’s broadband infrastructure buildout with the coming of a new presidential administration. The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program was designed and envisioned as a 10-year project, said BEAD director Evan Feinman, and changes in political leadership were expected. “Political changes, or not, there was going to be significant personnel turnover over the course of a decade, regardless,” he noted. The BEAD program, which is well underway, with money flowing to states to begin the process of awarding grants to Internet service providers for building out infrastructure, is part of President Joe Biden’s signature Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is investing more than $1 trillion in federal funding toward improving infrastructure of all sorts. Many of these projects are in motion, making their derailment difficult, though many of them are located in states and regions carried by President-elect Donald Trump.