Critics warn Ohio's budget bill could stifle BEAD progress

Broadband experts are condemning an amendment to Ohio’s latest budget bill that restricts fixed wireless access (FWA) grants with claims that it could curb the state’s efforts to bridge the digital divide. Governor Mike DeWine (R-OH) signed the bill without vetoing the amendment which means FWA grants from the state will now only be considered in “extremely high-cost” areas of Ohio. Mike Wendy of the Wireless Internet Service Provider Association (WISPA) said Ohio State Senator Rob McColley (R-OH) proposed the amendment to the budget bill, “ostensibly grounded in his belief that only fiber can/should do the job with grants funding.” Wendy said that because the amendment was part of the state’s broader budget initiative, the new FWA restrictions were snuck into the process with “little to no debate.” High-cost threshold locations (EHCTLs), or an "extremely high cost per location threshold area," defines an area in which the cost to build high-speed internet infrastructure exceeds the high cost per location threshold established by Ohio’s broadband expansion program. According to Wendy, these locations only represent “a very small subset of the work needed to get all online.” If the McColley amendment extends to Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants, it could also prevent 5G, CBRS, and other licensed wireless offerings from getting people online unless they live in EHCLTs.