The US Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program aims to deliver high-quality internet access to underserved households, particularly in rural areas. Despite its ambitious goals and $42.5 billion budget, progress has been slow, with no connections yet made. This slow rollout is partly due to states requesting more time for implementation, as noted by the program's architect, Evan Feinman. Recent shifts under the Trump administration, particularly from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, pose further challenges, threatening to divert resources to less reliable solutions like satellite internet from firms like Starlink.
"At every step of the game, states were screaming that we were going too fast. When we made allocation, more than a dozen states sent us letters saying, 'Go slower, go slower, go slower.'"
"Lutnick's changes to BEAD could hand a lot of the program's money over to private interests like Elon Musk's satellite internet provider, Starlink."
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