NTIA delays releasing guidance on how states can use ‘nondeployment’ BEAD funds

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Friday announced it will delay the release of guidance on how states can spend the remaining “nondeployment” funds that were allocated through the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

Until Friday’s announcement, the guidance for how states could spend the remainders of their BEAD allocations was expected to be released next week. Arielle Roth, an assistant Commerce Department secretary and NTIA administrator, said the delays follow the agency’s receiving “an extraordinary level of interest and feedback” via listening sessions last month, regarding the use of the $21 billion in savings generated partially through last year’s reforms to the BEAD program.

“While our guidance was expected by next week, we are taking additional time to review the comments and finalize our approach to ensure these funds are spent as efficiently and responsibly as possible. American taxpayers work hard for their money and deserve nothing less from this Administration,” Roth said in a press release.

The reforms, which came in the form of new program guidance shared by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last June, created surplus of BEAD funds after all 56 BEAD eligible states and territories were required to complete a “benefit of the bargain” round of subgrantee selection. Through the new selection process, states and territories were directed to select the lowest cost bid. The new guidance also eliminated of the program’s original preference for fiber technologies, a selection made under the Biden administration for the technology’s known reliability, in favor of a more technology-agnostic position.

However, the June guidance did not offer new rules for how states could use their “nondeployment” funds, promising that that guidance would come later. The original program rules, which were codified as part of the 2021 infrastructure law during former President Joe Biden’s time in the White House, said states could use their leftover funds on things like bolstering public services tied to broadband access, such as improving workforce development, expanding access to telehealth, improving cybersecurity and digital literacy.

The infrastructure law also held that states would receive their full BEAD allocations, regardless of program changes. 

Roth said more than 1,700 attendees and 175 speakers participated in three listening sessions to collect ideas about the use of the funds. She also said that the NTIA also received 188 written comments from industry, state officials and broadband advocates, adding that the agency wasn’t yet done collecting feedback.

“Participants and commenters have raised interesting ideas, including funding permitting improvements and workforce-related training, enhancing public safety communications, and using some of the funding to ‘clean up’ any remaining unserved locations,” Roth said in the announcement. “Next week, state officials from around the country will travel to Washington, D.C., to participate in our State Broadband Leaders Network Winter Summit. This conference presents a unique opportunity to engage directly with the states on how some of these ideas could be implemented to ensure we continue maximizing the value of the BEAD program for the American people.”

States have been asking for clarity on how they’d be able to use this bucket of funds since last summer. In August, 10 House Democrats asked the federal government to provide more clarity on the future of the funds, and in December, 164 state legislators joined to sign a letter urging Commerce to release the full amount that states were set to receive through BEAD.

Following the announcement on Friday, Jonathan Spalter, president and chief executive of the trade association USTelecom, sent Roth a letter laying out three areas the group would like to see nondeployment funding spent: next-generation 911 expansion, permitting modernization and cybersecurity training.

“USTelecom and our members are committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with you and your team to realize our shared goals of an American economy running on the fastest, most secure, and most future-proof communications infrastructure imaginable,” the letter reads. “Together, we can finish the job, lock in our gains, and achieve BEAD’s critical mission with a targeted, proactive approach to the non deployment funds. My team and I stand ready to assist you in any way we can.”