The Trump Administration said they would be making changes to federal funding going to states for broadband. Late last week, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has released changes to the original Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program…

This Policy Notice modifies and replaces certain requirements outlined in the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).1 Each Eligible Entity must comply with this Policy Notice to gain approval of its Final Proposal from the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information.

There are a lot of changes. The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society has a practical summary of the changes as well. I’ll be listening in at 3pm (MN time) to the Institute for Local Self Reliance discussion…

At 4pm ET today, we’ll go live for a special episode of Connect This! to digest what we know so far, with the help of a panel of national industry experts.

I’m going to try pull out the information directly from the document in an abridged way that I hope will make it easier to take it. Starting with things that have been eliminated:

1. Labor, Employment, and Workforce Development Requirements
Specifically, NTIA hereby eliminates the following sections of the NOFO: “Fair Labor Practices and Highly Skilled Workforce”; “Advancing Equitable Workforce Development and Job Quality Objectives”; and “Civil Rights and Nondiscrimination Law Compliance.”6 The related Initial Proposal and Final Proposal requirements7 and the corresponding reporting requirements are also eliminated.8 The “Contracting with Small and Minority Businesses, Women’s Business Enterprises, and Labor Surplus Area Firms” section is also eliminated.9

2. Climate Change Requirements
Specifically, NTIA hereby eliminates the “Climate Resilience” section of the NOFO12 and the related Initial Proposal and Final Proposal requirements.13

3. Open Access/Net Neutrality
Specifically, NTIA eliminates the “Consumer Protections” section of the NOFO16
that required Eligible Entities to “ensure that each prospective subgrantee does not impose data usage caps on any plans offered over a Funded Network or impose unjust or unreasonable network management practices.” NTIA further eliminates the “Interconnection Requirements and Wholesale Access” section of the NOFO.

4. Local Coordination and Stakeholder Engagement
Specifically, NTIA eliminates the “Local Coordination” and “Public Notice” sections of the NOFO20 and the related Initial Proposal and Final Proposal content requirements21 that dramatically expand on the statutory local coordination requirements.

5. Non-Traditional Broadband Providers
Specifically, NTIA eliminates the “Consider All Provider Types” section of the NOFO23 and the related Initial Proposal and Final Proposal requirements.

6. Middle Class Affordability Plan
NTIA hereby eliminates the NOFO requirement for Eligible Entities to develop, implement, and provide updates on a middle-class affordability plan.

7. Low-Cost Service Option
NTIA hereby eliminates the non-statutory requirements in the NOFO related to the BEAD low cost broadband service option (LCSO).
BEAD subgrantees must still comply with the statutory provision to offer at least one LCSO, but NTIA hereby prohibits Eligible Entities from explicitly or implicitly setting the LCSO rate a subgrantee must offer. To be clear, NTIA will only approve Final Proposals that include LCSOs proposed by the subgrantees themselves.

There’s also a new focus on technology neutral…

To guarantee that American taxpayers obtain the greatest return on their broadband investment – the Benefit of the Bargain – NTIA finds that the full force of the competitive marketplace must be utilized. Therefore, all broadband technologies that meet the performance requirements of
IIJA and the NOFO must be eligible to participate in the BEAD Program. …

The NOFO, however, limited this definition to one technology: end-to-end fiber.37 The definition
of a Priority Broadband Project as stated in the NOFO is hereby stricken and is replaced with the following:
Priority Broadband Project—The term “Priority Broadband Project” means a project that provides broadband service at speeds of no less than 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 megabits per second for uploads, has a latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds, and can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses and support the deployment of 5G, successor
wireless technologies, and other advanced services. …

Eligible Entities are no longer required to establish an Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold, but an Eligible Entity shall reject a Priority Broadband Project if the cost of the project is excessive. The NOFO’s additional
distinctions between fiber, other reliable broadband services, and alternative technologies are hereby eliminated.

There are changes to scoring applications. Eligible Entities shall score competing applications using the following criteria:

Minimal BEAD Program Outlay. The Eligible Entity must select the combination of project proposals with the lowest overall cost to the Program. This may involve selecting a proposal that is not the lowest-cost option for a given set of BSLs but is part of the combination of selected projects with the lowest overall cost to the Program.

Speed to Deployment. The prospective subgrantee’s binding commitment to provision service by a date certain that is earlier than four years after the date on which the
subgrantee will receive the subgrant from the Eligible Entity subject to contractual penalties to the Eligible Entity. Greater consideration can be awarded to prospective
subgrantees promising an earlier service provision date.

Speed of Network and Other Technical Capabilities. Eligible Entities may weigh the speed, latency, and other technical capabilities of the technologies proposed by
prospective subgrantees.
Preliminary/Provisional Subgrantees. For locations where Eligible Entities have already identified preliminary or provisionally selected subgrantees, Eligible Entities may give additional weight to those applications in the Benefit of the Bargain Round.

There are also changes with optimizing BEAD locations or determining BEAD eligible locations

• Eligible Entities must investigate and account for locations that do not require BEAD funding using the reason code process as detailed in the Final Proposal Guidance.
• Eligible Entities must modify BEAD-eligible location lists to include locations no longer served due to a default or change in service area on a Federal enforceable commitment where the Federal entity has notified NTIA and the Eligible Entity of the default by the release of this Policy Notice.
• Because unlicensed fixed wireless providers (ULFW) providers are now permitted to compete for BEAD subgrants on a level playing field with all other applications, Eligible Entities must account for BSLs with access to existing ULFW networks to prevent overbuilding.
• NTIA will closely review all CAI submissions and will narrowly interpret the term
  “community support organization” as used in the statute. NTIA reserves the right to reject any CAI designation.

More on Non-Deployment Funding …

Funding for allowable non-deployment purposes is under review and NTIA will issue updated guidance in the future. As of the date of this Policy Notice, NTIA rescinds approval of all non deployment activities approved in Initial Proposals. NTIA will not reimburse Eligible Entities for
any new costs associated with previously approved non-deployment activities incurred after the date of this Policy Notice.

More on Permitting …

To support NTIA’s goal of issuing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) approvals within two weeks for an estimated 90 percent of BEAD projects and eliminate approximately 3-6 months of environmental processing per project, all Eligible Entities are hereby required to use
the Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool (ESAPTT) within the NTIA Grants Portal.

More on Alignment with Prior Guidance …

The following Policy Notices addressing “Alternative Technologies” and BEAD subgrantee selection are now obsolete and are hereby rescinded:
• Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program: Selecting the Most Robust, Affordable, Scalable Technology, released June 26, 2024; and
• Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program: Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice, released December 12, 2024.

More on Modification of Initial and Final Proposals…

Further, NTIA hereby rescinds all Final Proposal approvals that occurred prior to the publication of this Notice, as those Final Proposals no longer effectuate the goals of the Program or the agency priorities that are detailed in this Notice.48 Any Eligible Entity affected by this change
must follow the same process as all other Eligible Entities, described in the next paragraph, to incorporate the terms of this Notice into its Initial Proposal.
To comply with this Policy Notice, the Authorized Organization Representative for each Eligible Entity must submit a letter to NTIA within 30 calendar days requesting an Initial Proposal correction to incorporate the terms of the Policy Notice into its Initial Proposal.