No More Broadband Delays, State Legislators Urge DC

Any changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment should be optional rather than mandatory, a group of 115 state legislators from 28 states said in a letter on Thursday to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. It comes after BEAD recently lost its top director, who departed with a scathing letter alleging an impending shift in funding toward Elon Musk’s satellite internet company, Starlink. The $42.5 billion broadband infrastructure investment was passed in 2021, and has come under fire from Republicans for its slow rollout. According to a report last month from The Wall Street Journal, Starlink could receive $10 billion to $20 billion of BEAD -- up from the $4.1 billion it was expected to get under the old rules. Locating local internet providers “At this late stage, major changes would undermine our work and delay deployment by years," says the letter from 115 state legislators from 28 states. "The health, safety, education and economic success of our communities depend on ... Read full article.