{"id":38007,"date":"2025-06-06T19:26:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T19:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/?p=38007"},"modified":"2025-06-06T19:26:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T19:26:35","slug":"public-knowledge-urges-commerce-department-to-reconsider-bead-changes-risking-americas-connectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/public-knowledge-urges-commerce-department-to-reconsider-bead-changes-risking-americas-connectivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Knowledge Urges Commerce Department To Reconsider BEAD Changes Risking America\u2019s Connectivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Today, the Department of Commerce <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ntia.gov\/press-release\/2025\/trump-administration-announces-benefit-bargain-bead-program-removes-regulatory-burdens-lowers-costs\">announced<\/a> that it is reallocating the $42 billion set aside for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program in a manner that steers communities away from fiber internet access and towards slower, more expensive technologies like satellite connectivity \u2013 at the cost of providing reliable, affordable broadband for <em>all<\/em> Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following can be attributed to Nat Purser, Government Affairs Policy Advocate at Public Knowledge:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToday\u2019s decision fundamentally undermines the intent of the BEAD program and risks wasting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build robust, future-proof broadband infrastructure for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCongress created the BEAD program to ensure that every household could access affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband that is capable of scaling along with the country\u2019s growing digital demand. Today\u2019s actions threaten that mission by privileging the cheapest technologies over the smartest investments. This is <em>not<\/em> securing the benefit of the bargain for American households \u2013 it\u2019s kicking the can down the road for another Congress and administration to solve.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBy diverting billions in funding to cheaper technologies like low-Earth orbit satellite service, which are more costly for consumers, technologically inferior, capacity-limited, and environmentally constrained, the Commerce Department is wasting public dollars on services that cannot deliver what communities need. This would constitute a historic policy failure for an administration attempting to save the public money while offering more efficient services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEqually troubling, this shift comes after <em>years <\/em>of careful state planning and public engagement, with states like West Virginia already having achieved full fiber-coverage in their plan \u2013 <em>with money to spare<\/em>. Reworking these plans injects more delays into the process, slows progress toward digital equity, and punishes states and providers that followed the rules in good faith, as well as their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere is no one-size-fits-all broadband solution, and our infrastructure programs must reflect that reality. We urge the Commerce Department to reconsider this move and stay the course, not force a top-down overhaul that compromises performance and value. People living in rural and Tribal communities cannot afford for us to squander this moment.\u201d<br><br>View our recent blog post, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/publicknowledge.org\/slowing-bead-to-speed-up-satellites\/\">Slowing BEAD to Speed Up Satellites: Evaluating Trade-Offs in Rural Connectivity<\/a>,\u201d for more information on how adjusting BEAD jeopardizes the program\u2019s ability to achieve connectivity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The changes threaten access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband for millions of American consumers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":37829,"parent":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-38007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-broadband-access"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Knowledge Urges Commerce Department To Reconsider BEAD Changes Risking America\u2019s Connectivity - Public Knowledge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Public Knowledge promotes freedom of expression, an open internet, and access to affordable communications tools and creative works. 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