NTIA Urged to Consider Tech-Neutral Approach for $42.5B BEAD Expansion

WASHINGTON, September 11, 2024 – The Biden Administration’s $42.5 billion high-speed internet expansion program may take a more technology-neutral approach than initially expected.

That is, if the program’s governing body, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, heeds comments filed Tuesday in response to the agency’s proposed guidance on alternative broadband technologies released in late August.

Many of the comments filed Tuesday urged the NTIA to adopt a more technology-agnostic approach that would allow alternative technologies, such as unlicensed fixed wireless and low-Earth orbit satellites, to be prioritized alongside fiber under the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program.