Various groups representing the telecom industry have asked the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for clarity on required broadband speeds under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
The groups (including NCTA — The Internet & Television Association, CTIA, WISPA — The Association for Broadband Without Boundaries, and the Competitive Carriers Association) wrote to NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson in October. They expressed concern that vague language in the BEAD notice of funding opportunity regarding low-cost broadband service options is creating confusion among eligible entities and threatens to lower participation in the program.
The letter says the NTIA document requires that providers offer the current broadband benchmark of 100 Megabits per second download speeds and 20 Mbps upload speeds or the performance benchmark for fixed terrestrial broadband service established by the Federal Communications Commission, whichever is greater. NTIA incorporated those numbers in the notice of funding opportunity in May 2022 in anticipation of the change from the previous standard of 25/3 under the direction of Congress. The FCC then established 100/20 as the broadband standard in March 2024.
“We are fundamentally concerned that this example language from NTIA was possibly provided without NTIA taking into account the ramifications that such a broad, open-ended requirement may cause if the FCC increases the performance benchmark further,” the letter states.
Section 706 of the Communications Act of 1934 requires the FCC to undertake an annual assessment of the availability of advanced telecommunications capability to Americans. While the FCC proposes keeping the 100/20 standard in 2025, it has set a long-term goal of reaching a benchmark of 1 Gbps/500 Mbps. The groups expressed worry that the FCC could establish a higher speed benchmark in a future Section 706 proceeding at any time while BEAD projects are ongoing. Increasing the speed without any technical or practical justification could hamstring the private sector and spur another round of taxpayer funding for broadband networks.
“The open-ended nature of the performance benchmark grounded in the FCC’s Section 706 inquiry is creating concern and confusion regarding an escalating speed requirement,” the letter states.
The groups argue that it would be contrary to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the law that created BEAD and set a 100/20 benchmark for the ensuing projects, to force subgrantees to commit to upgrade their networks to meet a higher, unknowable speed at a later date.
“Further, imposing a new, higher speed benchmark for customers participating in the low-cost broadband service option effectively imposes a new performance requirement on the subgrantee’s entire BEAD-funded network,” the letter says. “Indeed, some subgrantees might have to reconfigure and install new network equipment to meet the low-cost broadband service option’s higher speed requirement.”
The groups expressed concern that the notice of funding opportunity could commit applicants to scalability requirements of an unknown degree completely outside the regulatory authority of the NTIA. Those requirements “could force a grantee to completely alter their operations in BEAD-funded areas as well as potentially in the non-BEAD funded areas in which they operate,” they wrote.
The groups suggest NTIA address the issue by updating its BEAD FAQs to clarify that any reference to the FCC’s performance benchmark under Section 706 includes speeds “adopted prior to the subgrantee application deadline.”
NTIA should follow through with this request. Uncertainties in the BEAD program will hinder participation and stymie efforts to close the digital divide.
