BEAD

Don't Hit Pause Button on BEAD, Say State Broadband Officers

States are beginning to get spending plans together for the $42.5 billion broadband expansion effort.

Jake Neenan

Jan 10, 2025 — 2 min read

From top left: Mark Jamison, nonresident senior fellow at AEI, Tamarah Holmes, direcotr of Virginia's Office of Broadband, Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, and Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of Louisiana's broadband office

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9, 2024 – The incoming Trump administration should not pause the government’s $42.5 billion effort to end the digital divide, a state broadband head said Thursday.

“I’m hoping that we don’t hit pause. If there are changes, you can make these changes as we go. I feel like the NTIA has done that the entire time, so that’s not a new thing for us. We can pivot,” said Brandy Reitter, head of Colorado’s broadband office. “We’ve been waiting so long to get to this point, I’d hate to see us hit pause on anything because we’re almost there.”

She spoke at an America Enterprise Institute webinar on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, along with Dr. Tamarah Holmes and Veneeth Iyenger, the state broadband officers from Virginia and Louisiana, respectively.

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BEAD Veneeth Iyengar Brandy Reitter Tamarah Holmes Louisiana Colorado Virginia AEI Donald Trump Mark Jamison