The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society has an article that spells out some proposed BEAD updates…
The Accelerating Broadband Permits Act of 2026 (S.4448) is a short bill that would amend three different federal laws. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) introduced the bill on April 30, 2026, with Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and John Barrasso (R-WY) as cosponsors. On July 22, 2026, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (Senate Commerce Committee) approved the bill by voice vote, adopting an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by Senators Thune and Luján. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published its cost estimate of the committee-approved bill on October 16, 2026. The bill now awaits action by the full Senate.
The bill has three goals:
- make more information about the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program public;
- help BEAD-funded projects track the federal permits they need; and
- push federal agencies to meet an existing deadline for deciding on applications to place communications facilities on federal property.
A fourth provision would open a federal permitting-coordination program to far smaller broadband projects than are eligible today.
Below, we examine how S.4448 would amend current law, how the Senate Commerce Committee changed the bill, and what the bill would do if enacted in its current form.
Visit the full article to read more.