Influencing the BEAD Rules

One of the most interesting aspects of the upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants is that the Infrastructure Ivestment and Jobs Acy requires states to solicit feedback from the public. I can’t recall that ever happening with any grants in the past—normally the rules are handed down from on-high, and that’s that. States have to solicit feedback on two grant programs. First will be each state’s share of the $42.5 billion of BEAD broadband infrastructure grants. Second is the state’s portion of $1.44 billion in digital equity grants. Most states are soliciting feedback on the two grant programs at the same time, although this can be done separately. The listening sessions can be virtual, or the state can send folks out to talk to you live. The federal rules that created the grants say that the states have to reach out to ‘all corners’ of the state to solicit feedback. I interpret that to mean the state must reach out to local government, non-profits, local broadband committees, and any other stakeholder groups that want to talk to them. Most states are either in the process of these listening sessions or will be soon. I strongly recommend that anybody that sponsors a listening session take the time first to organize the issues to be sure to make all of the needed points. States are required to respond to questions asked in these listening sessions and to forward the questions and responses to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. But that means that a community or organization needs to ask specific questions if you want a response.