MCNC and partners weigh possible paths to navigate around BEAD funding uncertainty
MCNC and partners weigh possible paths to navigate
around BEAD funding uncertainty
With the advent of the Trump Administration’s changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, non-profit groups like MCNC and others are now trying to understand and navigate the new rules.
In June, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Policy Notice instituting what it calls “critical” reforms to the program. When the NTIA completed its review, it announced reforms that will remove rules favoring technologies like fiber and eliminate other regulations.
The Policy Notice also adopts a technology-neutral approach for the BEAD subgrantee selection process by rever
ting to statutory language for the definition of “Priority Broadband Project.”
Tracy Doaks, president and CEO of MCNC, said that the organization and its partners are trying to understand the structural changes surrounding BEAD.
“We’re all watching because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” she said. “It’s hard to discern and interpret what the changes to BEAD mean.”
A big concern is that BEAD funding is no longer focused on favoring fiber-based network implementations. “We and our partners are looking at how that funding could be awarded or not awarded to fiber build projects,” Doaks said.
