Rep McMorris Rodgers, Sen Wicker Raise Concern Over Secretary Raimondo’s Statement on BEAD Program

Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) would consider an area “as unserved until [it is] actually served” when determining areas eligible for BEAD program funding, raising the potential for overbuilding unfinished federally-subsidized projects. Not only would this approach undermine the success of this program, it would ignore congressional intent, waste taxpayer dollars, complicate already-strained broadband supply chains and workforce shortages, and leave rural America further behind. Moreover, it could cause NTIA to misallocate money among the states, given that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires NTIA to distribute funding based on the number of unserved locations in a state. We ask that you commit to recognizing as served those areas with existing broadband funding commitments for which a project is underway or about to break ground when determining whether an area is eligible for BEAD funding. We ask that you do so before the Notice of Funding Opportunity is released or by May 16, 2022, whichever is later.