Senators Call on Department of Commerce and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to Streamline Broadband Funding for Rural America

We write to urge the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to make the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program more accessible to unconnected regions across the country by considering alternatives to the program’s irrevocable standby Letter of Credit (LOC) requirement. One alternative to the LOC requirement is the use of performance bonds, which are commonly used in construction projects. Performance bonds would allow participants to provide a financial guarantee for the delivery of the project without requiring them to put up large amounts of capital upfront. We also recognize that there are a number of other alternatives to this requirement that NTIA could implement—such as parental guarantees—and should consider as an effective substitute for the LOC, to the extent they provide reasonable assurance of performance by the funding recipient and meaningful recourse for the government in cases of failed performance. We respectfully request a written response, no later than November 7, 2023, detailing potential alternatives to the LOC requirement under consideration by NTIA and how NTIA plans to incorporate these alternatives into the implementation of the BEAD program.