The U.S. Department of Commerce released the first version of this Self Certification list, which allows manufacturers who have invested in domestic manufacturing to voluntarily ‘certify’—at the risk of federal penalty—that certain equipment they make meets the domestic manufacturing requirement listed in the Build America, Buy America (BABA) waiver for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. This list is a direct response from manufacturer feedback that NTIA heard during the creation of the BABA waiver for the BEAD Program. Numerous companies expressed concern that their domestic manufacturing investment may be undercut by companies falsely claiming BABA compliance. Giving companies a self-certification option, with the safeguards of federal penalties for misrepresentations, helps create a level playing field and provide an additional layer of compliance with the BABA requirement. BEAD grantees and subgrantees will also still be responsible for confirming that equipment is compliant with BABA, consistent with grants law and regulations.

As the three-year anniversary of the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act approaches on November 15, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program hasn’t connected anyone yet, but a lot is in motion. Application windows are open. Louisiana is ahead of the game and should complete its subgrantee selection soon. Some states, though, will need extended time. States vary a lot in how they define project areas and how they plan to deal with overlaps. BEAD’s first legal headwinds appeared when internet service provider (ISP) Cox Communications sued Rhode Island for its ambitious use of speed tests to identify underserved areas. We still don’t know whether industry will step up with robust participation in BEAD. LEO satellite and fixed wireless services, addressed through new alternative technology guidance, seem to ensure that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will be able to claim some sort of success in its “internet for all” goals. But the real successes of BEAD will come where “priority” fiber projects enable disadvantaged areas to leapfrog to some of the best connectivity available.

Issa Asad, 51, of Southwest Ranches (FL), and Q Link Wireless LLC, of Dania Beach (FL), pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud and commit offenses against the United States in connection with a years-long scheme to steal over $100 million from the Federal Communications Commission's Lifeline program. Asad, Q Link’s CEO, also pleaded guilty to laundering money from a separate scheme to defraud a different federal program meant to aid individuals and businesses hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic. Asad and Q Link each pleaded guilty to Count 1 of an Information, which charges them with conspiring to commit wire fraud and to steal government money, and also with conspiring to defraud the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. Asad pleaded guilty as well to Count 2 of the Information, which charges him with money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957. Both defendants also pleaded guilty to the Information’s forfeiture allegations. U.S. District Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II accepted the guilty pleas and set the Defendants’ sentencing hearings for Jan. 15, 2025. Asad and Q Link also agreed to pay jointly $109,637,057 in restitution to the FCC. During their guilty pleas, the Defendants agreed that they purposefully conspired to defraud the Lifeline program. Specifically, beginning as early as 2012 and continuing through at least 2021, Q Link cheated the Lifeline program by making repeated false claims for reimbursement, taking and retaining Lifeline funds that it was not entitled to receive, providing false information about its Lifeline customers, and deceiving the FCC about its compliance with program rules. Asad directed these illegal activities and conspired with others to commit the fraud.