Rep Hudson Leads Legislation to Speed Up Broadband Deployment

Rep Richard Hudson (R-NC), who serves as the Chairman of the Communications and Technology Subcommittee on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led Republican members of the subcommittee in introducing the Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment (SPEED) for BEAD Act. The SPEED for BEAD Act:

• Renames the program the Broadband Expansion, Access, and Deployment program, to ensure its focus is on expanding broadband access and deployment, not other issues;
• Clarifies that the program can utilize all technologies to close the digital divide;
• Ensures that funds are used for deployment and workforce development;
• Allows providers more flexibility in the projects they choose to bid on;
• Eliminates the burdensome conditions imposed by the Biden-Harris Administration, including those related to labor, climate change, and rate regulation, that made deployment more expensive and participation less attractive.