Getting to the Broadband Future Efficiently with BEAD Funding

To make sure that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program funding is used efficiently and not misallocated, it is important that National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) rules for allocating those funds be based on sound economic and policy principles. Unfortunately, that is not the case presently. As framed, the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is heavily biased to favor and fund Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) projects. As an initial matter, the IIJA does not require NTIA to prioritize BEAD funds for the deployment of FTTP projects. Moreover, it is bad policy for multiple reasons:

• “FTTP-only” or “FTTP-first” is inconsistent with optimal planning for US essential and critical digital infrastructure and promoting efficient market competition and consumer choice;
• It will increase the total cost of achieving broadband universal service goals unnecessarily while offering no compensating advantages;
• It will increase the public-cost contribution and likely the total costs of eventual FTTP deployments; and
• It will delay substantially the deployment of broadband and associated complementary digital infrastructure, including progress toward FTTP in many situations where FTTP deployments make sense.