Citizens Against Government Waste Reviews First 10 States' Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Proposals

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) included $42.45 billion for broadband funding across the country, made available through the National Technology and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) sent comments to the NTIA prior to the release of the agency’s guidance for the BEAD program, urging the agency to “take a vendor and technology neutral approach to issuing grant funding,” and avoid supporting government owned networks, among other recommendations. After these recommendations were not followed, CAGW has been critical of NTIA's guidance, noting that the rules encourage states to engage in rate setting by prioritizing funding for providers that meet prescribed rates for low- and middle-income households at symmetrical 100/100 Megabits per second or higher speed thresholds. This leads to the use of a particular technology rather than allowing states and localities to determine the technology best suited to their local conditions. As states begin to receive funding and set up the process by which the money will be disbursed, CAGW is keeping track of how the states formulate and implement their proposals for BEAD funding. CAGW reviews the BEAD plans for Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming, and Michigan.