Fiber Broadband Association Voices Confidence About Fiber's Role in BEAD

WASHINGTON, Feb. 5, 2025 – There’s been a lot of talk about the possibility that the Trump administration will dial back the fiber preference baked into the $42.5 billion federal broadband program that’s nearing implementation. The head of the Fiber Broadband Association, the fiber industry’s main trade group, isn’t worried about it.

“What I was hearing from very conservative folks on the hill was that it wasn’t really about pushing other technologies, it’s about market forces,” FBA CEO Gary Bolton said Wednesday. “And when you let the market decide, fiber wins.”

In other words, even if new policies from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration make it easier to fund fixed wireless and satellite, Bolton thinks states will still go with as much fiber as possible given the choice. He spoke at an FBA webinar.