Upcoming policy issue

The Commerce Department is examining changes to the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program aimed at expanding internet access around the country with new rules that will make it easier for Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite-internet service, to tap in to rural broadband funding, said people familiar with the plans. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has told staff he plans to make the grant program “technology-neutral,” the people said.

The BEAD Program is on course to ensuring that every location in the U.S. has fast, reliable, and affordable internet access over networks that can be easily upgraded to keep up with the connectivity demands of Americans for decades to come. Secretary Lutnick's reported meddling is likely to leave millions of Americans with broadband that is slower, less reliable, and more expensive—while at the same time surrendering US leadership in the global race for high-speed broadband. Americans deserve better.

NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, NPR and KCBS radio all have one thing in common: They’re under scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission, which is now being led by Brendan Carr, a Republican who has praised President Donald Trump as a leader in combating bias in the media. NBCUniversal and its parent company, Comcast, were the latest media companies to receive word of an investigation by the FCC.

We just spent a few years agonizing over the Federal Communications Committee broadband maps. The reasons we’ve cared is easy to understand. The FCC maps were first used to allocate Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funding to states. States that spent a lot of time to clean up the maps seem to have gotten a better share of the BEAD funding. We’ll soon be at the end of the BEAD map challenges, and that makes me wonder if anybody will ever care about the FCC maps after this. I’m positive that when BEAD is over, the FCC and everybody else will lose interest in the broadband maps.

President Donald Trump is less than a month into his second term but has wasted no time imposing a 10 percent tariff on goods from China, sparking concern from the telecommunications industry.

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments in the case of FCC v. Consumers’ Research—a case regarding the Universal Service Fund—for Wednesday morning, March 26. The court will decide on a 2024 ruling by the U.S.

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee recently approved 17 bipartisan bills, and a few of them impact the broadband industry. Since these have bipartisan support, it seems like they will have a decent chance of becoming law. The first is S.98 – Rural Broadband Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).

The GOP's Hill leaders are signaling their eagerness to back up Elon Musk by turning DOGE spending cuts into real legislation. Musk's

As Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick will have powers over many commerce-related areas, and he may play a role in the big issue of tariffs. But of most interest to the broadband community, he would be the boss of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. The Senate Commerce Committee held Lutnick’s confirmation hearing on January 29, where Senators were able to question the nominee. Some Senators—from both parties—expressed concerns about any dramatic changes to BEAD.

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) has been demanding an overhaul of a $42.45 billion broadband deployment program, and now his telecommunications policy director has been chosen to lead the federal agency in charge of the grant money.