Fischer Wants More Fiber for Nebraska from Trump’s Commerce Department

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2025 – Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., would prefer her state funded more fiber under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, she said Thursday.

The Trump administration handed down new rules for the $42.45 billion broadband expansion program in June, ending an explicit preference for fiber and requiring another bidding round with an emphasis on lowering deployment costs. It made it easier for low-earth orbit satellite providers like SpaceX to compete for BEAD funding.

Fischer said she was by and large supportive of the new rules, which eliminated some provisions the GOP had been critical of, like more stringent low-cost service requirements and fair labor incentives, among other things.