Public Interest Groups Urge NTIA to Keep Community Anchor Institutions Definition ‘Flexible’
Groups warn that senior centers, houses of worship could be excluded from BEAD.
WASHINGTON, August 12, 2025 – Two prominent public interest groups have called on federal officials to let states decide what qualifies as a community anchor institution.
The definition matters because, under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, leftover state funds were to be used to connect CAIs once all unserved and underserved locations were addressed.
The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband Coalition and the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society sent a letter Monday urging the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to revert to the definition of a CAI included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
The letter, addressed to NTIA Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth, who was confirmed to lead the agency in July, criticized a June 6 Commerce Department notice that restructured the BEAD program. The notice added a requirement that a CAI must be located “in a government-owned facility that provides publicly accessible internet service and currently offers digital skill training.”
The IIJA, meanwhile, defined a CAI as “an entity… that facilitates greater use of broadband service by vulnerable populations, including low-income individuals, unemployed individuals, and aged individuals.”
The groups warned that this narrower definition could exclude critical organizations from participating in BEAD.
“Some communities, particularly rural ones, may be far away from a community anchor institution like a school or library,” the letter stated. “Instead, residents often rely on places like houses of worship or senior centers as gathering spaces that serve as de facto CAIs.”
“These organizations may not operate within government-owned buildings, yet they connect vulnerable populations to the internet and assist with online tasks like accessing government services, searching for jobs, and attending virtual medical and legal appointments,” the groups’ letter stated.
They also noted that some organizations not currently offering digital skills training or internet service could begin doing so with BEAD funding.
“NTIA’s requirement that community service organizations ‘currently’ provide publicly accessible internet service and digital skills training forecloses the ability of existing CAIs to expand their services,” the groups wrote.
Rather than imposing a rigid definition, SHLB and Benton urged the NTIA to give states discretion in determining eligible institutions for leftover BEAD funds. They argued that the new restrictions exceed Congress’s intent and that flexibility would “enhance the efficiency of broadband deployment.”
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