According to a former head of the NTIA during the first Trump administration, there’s a good chance the incoming president’s new administration will take a more favorable view on fixed wireless access (FWA).
She is predicting the funding to stay the same but rules could change…
Rinaldo said she doesn’t expect the incoming Trump administration to reduce the amount of money in the Biden administration’s Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which is designed to funnel $42.45 billion through US states for broadband networks in rural areas.
“I don’t anticipate any of that funding gets clawed back,” Rinaldo said.
But she did say that she expects incoming officials to change the program in order to take a technology-neutral approach toward BEAD awards, rather than a fiber-first approach.