Congress hears testimonies on 'disruptive' barriers to BEAD deployment

A House Commerce Committee hearing centered on the future of rural broadband funding had industry leaders testifying on the improvements they deem necessary for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to be effective. US Telecom CEO Jonathan Spalter said in addition to financial backing, Congress can take non-funding actions to expedite and improve programs for rural broadband, and spoke against BEAD’s letter of credit requirement, which he contended could “actually reduce the amount of broadband deployed in the next few years using private capital.” Additionally, Spalter said streamlining permitting processes is another key to reducing providers’ deployment costs and timelines. Meanwhile, Midcontinent Communications (Midco) VP of Government Relations Justin Forde said that an important aspect of better cross-agency coordination would be making broadband programs, their eligibility standards, and their requirements more consistent. President of the Technology Policy Institute, Scott Wallsten, said that federal funding should be technology neutral, “with minimum specifications based on what consumers want.” Central to that argument is the fact that fixed wireless can bring connectivity quicker than fiber deployments, with Wallsten noting the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requires that regulatory analyses take timelines into account.