WISPA CEO: BEAD Maps Still Imperfect

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2025 – With most states already taking grant applications, the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program is getting closer to deployment. WISPA, the trade group representing small and wireless ISPs, wants the program’s eligibility maps revised before that happens.

There’s been some uncertainty around the program as the Trump administration weighs  how extensively it will seek to change the rules in the name of making BEAD open to more technologies. That led to state broadband offices and lawmakers at both the state and federal levels urging the Commerce Department not to put the program on ice or make states redo any of their planning work.

WISPA CEO David Zumwalt said in an interview the group also doesn’t want a lengthy pause. But he said some wireless ISPs reported having parts of their service areas marked as eligible for BEAD funding despite already offering qualified service.

“To the extent that we need to roll the clock back, it would be to look with a fresh set of eyes at some of the challenge processes that were not applied properly,” he said.

A small number of states are still working through the process, but most fielded challenges to government broadband coverage data last year, a required part of the program. Zumwalt said in some cases ISPs didn’t have enough time to respond to blanket challenges or had locations disqualified based on easily changeable radio setups – the kind of thing he would like to see a chance to address before money goes out the door.

The Commerce Department, which houses NTIA, is currently reviewing BEAD to make it more technologically neutral – the Trump administration has been critical of the program's preference for fiber – but it’s not clear yet what specific changes the agency will impose. West Virginia received a 90-day deadline extension to rework its final plan in light of the Trump administration’s policies, but the state’s governor hasn’t said what specifically needed changing.

More than 40 states have already begun fielding grant applications under the current rules, and with their current maps. Three had spending plans approved under the Biden administration and have been awaiting the result of budget reviews since Trump took office. 

Still, Zumwalt said he was optimistic that an opportunity for providers to dispute challenge adjudications wouldn’t be disruptive.

“I do believe it’s possible to do this without a reboot to square one,” he said. “We’re working pretty hard to make sure that the incoming administration knows not just of our concerns, but the consequences of continuing to head down the path that was established under the previous administration.”