States, feds at odds over low-cost broadband option

States and the federal government may agree that the expansion of broadband service around the country funded with $42.5 billion from the infrastructure act should be affordable for low-income people. But at least one state doesn’t agree that it should be dictating what’s affordable. After reviewing Virginia’s plan for its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment funding, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration told the state it needed to be more specific. In order to be approved to receive the first batch of its $1.4 billion in BEAD funding, NTIA said Virginia—which only calls for companies to provide an “affordable” option—has to set an “exact" limit on how much companies can charge low-income households. The idea of the government dictating how much a company receiving grants through the program can charge has been criticized by some House Republicans and internet service providers as “rate regulation.” Virginia agrees. In its response, the state told NTIA that it does not believe it would be legal for states to tell companies how much they can charge, or for the agency to tell states to do so.