In response to Sen. John Thune's (R-SD) oversight letter on issues concerning federal broadband programs, NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association writes:

• On a technology-neutral approach: All technologies are eligible to participate in the BEAD program; there is nothing in the BEAD program Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to the contrary. Not all technologies are equally capable, however, and it does not violate a principle of “technological neutrality” to take stock of and account for the relative attributes and limitations of different technologies as demonstrated in the marketplace;
• On using unionized labor: Congress and/or [the National Telecommunication and Information Administration] NTIA should consider how best to remove or otherwise substantially modify this requirement. 
• On promoting government-owned networks: Despite the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's (IIJA) purported neutrality regarding the type of provider eligible for a sub-grant, the NOFO promotes government-owned networks by imposing burdensome requirements on eligible entities and pressures states to waive laws that place restrictions on government-owned networks, even if the restrictions predate IIJA enactment;
• On broadband policy issues for the 118th Congress: NTCA encourages Congress to remain mindful of the potential concerns raised by several currently pending federal lawsuits challenging the constitutionality and legality of the congressional delegation of authority to the FCC to collect contributions in support of its critical USF mission. To the extent that any of these challenges were successful, the FCC’s ability to carry out the congressionally mandated purpose of universal service will be at risk – with rural consumers and the community-based providers that serve them, schools, libraries, low-income consumers, and rural health care providers all suffering catastrophic loss of access to support mechanisms that are critical to connectivity. If a court decision undermines these essential mechanisms, Congress will need to act quickly to ensure that services will not fail and that rates will not increase exponentially for rural communities and users of all kinds across the nation.

I am pleased to provide the following recommendations for the Lower Rio Grande Valley for a regional strategy to gain equitable access to federal broadband funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Congress also directed the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to: (1) use updated broadband map to be developed by the Federal Communications Commission to help guide the process for awarding state broadband grants; (2) efficiently award grants by minimizing deployment of new infrastructure over existing broadband networks; and (3) target persistent poverty regions for broadband investment in grant programs. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV), which includes the counties of Cameron, Willacy, Hidalgo, and Starr, is part of a persistent poverty region entitled to special consideration by the NTIA in terms of broadband investment under the IIJA. The recommendations include the following:

• The LRGVDC should file a request with the to NTIA waive reliance on the FCC's maps due to the counties of the RGV and Texas-Mexico Border region persistent poverty status. They should additionally file for a waiver to NTIA’s “no overbuilding” infrastructure rule in considering the award of broadband grants to the entire Rio Grande Valley region to foster competition and secure the necessary speed and capacity of networks to implement the telehealth objectives for the region and other economic benefits. Without granting these waivers, the NTIA will not be able to fulfill the mandate from Congress to give special consideration to persistent poverty regions, such as the Rio Grande Valley/Texas Border region, in terms of broadband investment.
• The LRGVDC should file a letter with the FCC and NTIA supporting the extension requested by Texas Comptroller Hegar and share local broadband infrastructure access data. It is equally important to share subscriptions, community surveys, and other data on the digital divide directly with the NTIA, which is the federal agency with the legal mandate to establish the rules to administer broadband funds efficiently and equitably under the IIJA, including the targeting of persistent poverty regions for broadband investment.

The Federal Communications Commission released a file that contains the number of “units” (usually housing units) in the  Broadband Serviceable Location Fabric (Fabric). There are 158 million “units” in the Fabric and 140 million housing units in the 2020 Census. In the least dense 2,143 counties, there are 30 million “units” in the Fabric and 24.5 million Census housing units. As counties get more rural, the Fabric increasingly has more locations than the Census. In the least dense counties, the Fabric routinely has 40% more locations than the Census. We hear a lot about missing locations in the Fabric; we don’t hear as much about over-reported locations.

I no longer believe, and haven’t for years, that our current commercialized and consolidated media is capable of curing its own ills. I applaud what remains of community and independent media. These folks struggle mightily to maintain sufficient resources needed to do their jobs, but it becomes more difficult each year as newspapers are bought up by huge non-community chains, local stations go off the air, newsrooms are shuttered, reporters are fired en masse, and local, regional, and statehouse coverage diminishes. It’s not working; something else is needed. There is no silver bullet solution to repair our media ecosystem. But part of the answer must be significantly increased support for public media, non-profits, and start-ups. Compared to other advanced nations, the United States spent only a pittance on public broadcasting. We need to catch up and, given our size and population, go beyond what even those nations are spending. And we need to provide significantly more support for not just national news and information like PBS and NPR, but on local and community news and information. Then we need to repair commercial media like radio and TV, bringing back Federal Communications Commission regulatory oversight that was built up over the years but eliminated by recent GOP-majority FCCs. Rules and regulations limiting mergers and acquisitions, requiring diversity of viewpoint and diversity of ownership, coverage of local news like mayors’ offices, courts, school boards, environmental challenges, limits on advertising, some semblance of balance in the presentation of viewpoints, and programs for children. While cable has been treated differently from radio and television, it is time to bring some public interest oversight here, too. Yes, the main focus these days seems to be on what to do about the internet. Yet as former President Barack Obama and many others have observed, much of the mis- and dis-information on social media originates on traditional media platforms.

ImOn Communications, an Eastern Iowa-based fiber broadband services provider, has agreed to acquire FiberComm, reflecting an ongoing consolidation trend of regional fiber operators. ImOn was founded in 2007 as a single-market cable provider and has transformed into a regional fiber-to-the-premise platform that owns and operates a 2,000+ mile network that reaches over 77,000 households and businesses. ImOn said that it remains committed to completing its network expansion to all homes and businesses in Cedar Rapids, Marion, Hiawatha, Iowa City, Coralville and Dubuque. After meeting pending regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in 2023 and is subject to obtaining customary regulatory approvals.