FCC Commissioner Carr Criticizes BEAD Fiber Priority Ahead of Funding Allocation

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2023 – Brendan Carr, commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission, voiced reservations last week about the fiber preference in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s flagship broadband funding program, citing potential time and financial constraints.

The NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, an offspring of the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, is expected to deliver $42.5 billion to the states by June 30 for infrastructure that needs to be built within a handful of years. Funding priorities under BEAD will be given to “projects designed to provide fiber connectivity directly to the end user,” according to an NTIA document.

“I do think some of the BEAD policies put a bit too much of a thumb on the scale for fiber,” Carr said in an interview with John Foley, managing director of Safer Building Coalitions, at the Wireless Tech and Policy Summit in Washington.

“In the case of fiber, where it could take potentially years to get fiber built out, not to mention significant delta in funding,” said Carr. “It can take anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 to run a mile of fiber.”

He said fixed wireless access can sometimes provide “robust high-speed service” while still remaining within budget.

Despite the NTIA’s clear acknowledgement of a fiber preference in its infrastructure deployment effort, Carr has long advocated for the use of fiber alternatives in rural regions, where high-speed internet is still a luxury in some parts. In 2022, Carr criticized the FCC for rejecting full grants to satellite broadband service provider Starlink and fixed wireless service provider LTD Broadband from the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.

“We should be making it easier for unserved communities to get service, not rejecting a proven satellite technology that is delivering robust, high-speed service today,” read the statement. “To be clear, this is a decision that tells families in states across the country that they should just keep waiting on the wrong side of the digital divide even though we have the technology to improve their lives now.”

Among the summit’s panelists, former FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein also raised skepticism that the program’s intended beneficiaries, those living in rural regions, would see any tangible benefits from a fiber priority strategy.

“Policy makers, I don’t think, are always thinking about how actually consumers are living on the ground,” he said. “The thing that isn’t so obvious sometimes is the affordability factor that not everybody can afford to have a fiber connection and a broadband connection over their handset.”

This isn’t the first time telecom experts raised concern about BEAD’s fiber-focused expansion. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association released a report in February calling fiber-prioritized financing “a bad policy” due to its potential to raise implementation costs and slow down the rollout timeline.