Regulating via Grants

Everywhere I look I see Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant rules that are doing what I call regulating by grant. State Broadband Offices are creating grant rules that go far beyond adhering to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) guidelines. They are insisting on grant rules which are intended to achieve social policies. I’m highlighting two such items buried inside Iowa's BEAD rules. The first requirement is in paragraph 1.3.18 of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) and concerns having a low-price option for low-income subscribers. The price required is $40, and an internet service provider must offer a speed of at least 100/20 Mbps with no data caps or other fees or taxes added to the $40 fee. Another interesting provision of the Iowa grant rules is included in paragraph 1.6.3.5. of the NOFA. This requires any BEAD project that will be laying a fiber optic cable or conduit along a roadway must build either an extra conduit or else use at least a 2-inch conduit. The extra conduit or space inside the primary conduit are intended for, “interconnection by unaffiliated entities”. Iowa is not alone in these regulatory grant rules, but they must be off-putting to internet service providers.