No Changes to Worker Classification for BEAD, Pennsylvania Says
NTIA had previously said the state would have to change course.
WASHINGTON, May 5, 2026 – It appears Pennsylvania won’t need to change a state labor law in order to access hundreds of millions in federal broadband funding.
In February, the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said Pennsylvania would be required to classify fiber technicians separately from electric lineman before signing a grant agreement with the agency. The state is looking to spend $711 million on deployment projects under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, money that can’t go out the door until NTIA signs off.
“Pennsylvania is going to be required as a condition of its grant agreement with NTIA to revise its classification so that they accurately reflect the work being done,” NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said in February. “It’s going to promote broadband deployment in the state by lowering labor costs.”
