The Speed of BEAD Funding: Industry Perspective with Shirley Bloomfield

There has been a lot of chatter in the broadband industry recently, particularly as the election approaches, about whether the speed with which Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding is rolling out is too slow. But Shirley Bloomfield, CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, said the timeline doesn’t bother her too much. “There’s been enough money flowing into the system that I’m not concerned that it’s taken three years.” Bloomfield named two primary reasons why the BEAD funding process so far has been worth the time spent. The first is the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mapping process. In addition to appreciating the complexity of the FCC’s mapping process—even while identifying its problems—Bloomfield thinks fiscal responsibility is another reason it’s reasonable for the speed of BEAD funding to be slower.