Alexis Schrubbe: Everything You Know About Speed for BEAD is Now Moot

The June 2025 BEAD Policy Notice significantly rewrites the rules of the $42.45 billion federal broadband program just as states and territories were preparing to implement their plans.

After NTIA spent over a year approving 56 unique, state-tailored Final Proposals—each shaped by the original 2023 NOFO’s emphasis on flexibility, local coordination, affordability, and fiber preference—the agency has now rescinded those approvals and issued a uniform, cost-first, technology-neutral framework that all states must follow.

This change isn’t subtle. It eliminates preferences for fiber, labor standards, affordability requirements, climate resilience, municipal ownership, and other values-based priorities that many states baked into their processes. States that prioritized community-driven networks, built local partnerships, and ran extensive outreach now face immense sunk costs.

They, and everyone, must start over—rescinding awards, reopening application processes, and revising scoring systems within 90 days. TL;DR? Fiber’s out, fixed wireless and LEO is in, and your state or territory’s final proposal is a paperweight.

At the center of this shift is the required “Benefit of the Bargain” round. Every state must re-run their subgrantee selection process to allow all provider types—including fixed wireless, cable, and LEO satellite—to compete equally under new criteria that emphasize lowest cost per location served. Any applications previously submitted must be rescored using this new rubric, and subgrantees are barred from recovering costs tied to the now-eliminated regulatory requirements.

Municipal and nonprofit networks can still apply, but the structural advantage they were afforded under some state plans is gone. So is any scoring consideration for public accountability, long-term affordability, or open access. The only primary metric that matters now is cost to the BEAD program. States may consider speed to deployment and technical performance, but only in cases where proposals fall within 15 percent of one another in cost.

Additionally, the new notice rescinds all previously allocated non-deployment BEAD funds, including funding set aside for workforce development, digital equity, mapping improvements, local coordination, and technical assistance. That money is no longer available and importantly, will not be reimbursed. States and territories that had planned holistic broadband strategies incorporating those elements will now need to operate under a narrower infrastructure-only mandate.

This is a dramatic midstream course correction. NTIA is framing the update as a necessary return to the letter of the IIJA statute after a period of policy “misdirection.” Rescore, rebid, redo: the broadband Groundhog Day no one asked for. For state broadband offices, communities, and partners that followed NTIA’s original playbook in good faith, the message is clear: The new administration simply doesn't give a hoot.

See here for a simple and quick table of NOFO I to NOFO II changes from my first read - this is a living document and may change.

Dr. Alexis D. Schrubbe is the Director of the Internet Equity Initiative at the University of Chicago’s Data Science Institute. With over 12 years of experience in digital equity, broadband research, and technology policy, she is a leading figure in advancing digital inclusion through innovative, data-driven approaches. Her work integrates research, education, and community engagement to promote equitable access to digital resources and broadband infrastructure. This Expert Opinion is was originally published on Schrubbe's substack on June 6, 2025, and is republished with permission.

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