States get 90-day extension for final BEAD proposals

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Tuesday notified states that they’ve been granted a 90-day extension to submit their final spending proposals for their slice of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment, or BEAD, program.

The waiver notice, which was published Tuesday evening by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, addresses a rule of the program that each state or territory must submit a final proposal no later than twelve months after their initial proposal has been approved by the assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The waiver arrives after Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last month announced intentions to alter to the program, including allowing states to give more of their BEAD funding to satellite internet service providers — a move several states are also pushing for.

The notice says that a “comprehensive review” of the program is underway, noting it was issued “in anticipation of these forthcoming programmatic changes,” to allow states more time to implement them.

“The U.S. Department of Commerce, in keeping with its mission to create the conditions for economic growth and opportunity for all communities, is currently undertaking a detailed review of the BEAD program to remove unnecessary rules and mandates, to improve efficiency, take a more technology-neutral approach, cut unnecessary red tape, and streamline deployment,” the notice reads.

Both the Trump administration and federal legislators are proposing ways to accelerate the deployment of BEAD infrastructure projects. Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., last month introduced legislation called the ‘‘Streamlining Program Efficiency and Expanding Deployment for BEAD Act’’ or “SPEED for BEAD,” which would strip the program of diversity, equity and inclusion language, and remove preferential treatment for fiber installations.

Three states — Delaware Louisiana and Nevada — have completed their BEAD planning and received final approvals this year, but most states are still in the planning stages, gathering proposals from internet service providers. But at least two states — Maine and West Virginia — have taken steps back.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey last month announced the state had received a 90-day extension from the Trump administration to make changes to its final BEAD proposal. Charlie Dennie, a former director of West Virginia’s broadband office, told Mountain State Spotlight that his state’s changes to its proposal will allow Elon Musk’s Starlink — a top low Earth orbit satellite internet provider — to have a larger share of the state’s BEAD funding.

Musk and his company have been the subject of recent scrutiny following the announcement that, along with Starlink’s many state and local government contracts, the company last month “donated” its satellite services to provide the White House with a new Wi-Fi network.

The changes also follow the billionaire’s sizable campaign donations to Donald Trump’s administration and conservative politicians, as well as his role as an adviser to Trump’s administration as head of its controversial Department of Government Efficiency unit.

Arielle Roth, Trump’s nominee to lead the NTIA, has been similarly vocal criticizing BEAD’s “fiber first” preference, and appears poised to lead a technology-neutral approach to the program.