NTIA Nominee Roth Has Big Issues with BEAD
Incoming NTIA chief Arielle Roth would abolish fiber preference, low-cost mandates.
Jericho Casper

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2025 – President Donald Trump on Monday nominated Arielle Roth, telecom director for Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Cruz, to lead the Commerce Department’s telecommunications agency.
Roth, who is poised to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, outlined her stance on the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program in June, criticizing its emphasis on fiber deployments and what she described as a “woke social agenda” laden with additional regulatory burdens.
“The NTIA has just been preoccupied with attaching all kinds of extra legal requirements on BEAD and, you know, honest to honest, a woke social agenda, loading up all kinds of burdens that deter participation in the program and drive up costs,” Roth said, speaking at a Federalist Society event.
Roth outlined several BEAD policies she opposed, stating: “Requiring states to choose a statewide low-cost, low-income rate is just one of the ways that they've imposed extra legal requirements. There's also climate change regulations, union mandates, wholesale access requirements… all kinds of left-wing priorities on the program that just divert resources away from the overall goal of closing broadband gaps. This is going to make the program less cost effective, and it's going to undermine its goals.”
She also took aim at NTIA’s strong preference for fiber in the BEAD program, arguing that it violates Congress’ intent of technology neutrality in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
“Congress wrote the [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] in a tech-neutral manner,” Roth said. “Any technology could be eligible for BEAD subsidies provided that they met the performance requirements in the statute.”
“Instead, NTIA has gone in a totally different direction and imposed extreme tech bias in favor of fiber. That's just going to make the program more expensive. A one size fits all solution doesn't make sense.”
Outside of BEAD and NTIA’s jurisdiction, Roth weighed in on broader telecom policy issues, including Universal Service Fund reform, digital discrimination rules, and Federal Communications Commission’s programs.
Roth said the Universal Service Fund “needs reform” and described the USF contribution factor – which has risen to 36.3% – as “unsustainable” and a “hidden tax on consumers’ phone bills.”
She rejected the idea of expanding the USF funding base to include broadband providers or other industries, arguing that it wouldn’t fix the root problem of “constantly expanding spending” but would instead “open the floodgates” to more government expansion.
She supported Cruz’s “blueprint” for USF reform, which calls for Congress to take over USF funding through appropriations. “In the long run, that's the only way to fix the USF, not just pumping more money into it,” Roth said.
She also raised concerns about the FCC’s digital discrimination rules, currently tied up in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, and voiced opposition to the expansion of the E-Rate program under former FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, which included new money to fund Wi-Fi on school buses and hotspot lending programs.
Roth’s self-proclaimed goal of slashing “red tape” and ensuring technology neutrality have earned her widespread praise from industry groups, many of which see her nomination as an opportunity to reshape broadband and spectrum policy.
Industry groups INCOMPAS, WISPA, WIA, ACA Connects, along with AT&T, Comcast, and the National Spectrum Consortium were among those issuing statements congratulating Roth.
WISPA in particular framed Roth as a leader who could course-correct BEAD, making it more tech-neutral and removing what they view as unnecessary requirements that limit participation and drive up costs.
Roth’s confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled, but the Senate Commerce Committee was expected to announce a date in the coming weeks. The committee was set to hold a vote on Feb. 5 for Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, suggesting that Roth’s hearing could be scheduled sometime after that session.