Prioritize Deployment in NTIA BEAD program, says AT&T
NTIA must make deployment "job #1" in the broadband equity, access, and deployment program, Joan Marsh, AT&T executive vice president-federal regulatory relations, blogged Thursday. The program "must remain anchored in the core goal" of "universal broadband availability," Marsh said, noting…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included separate funding to "directly address broadband affordability and adoption through other programs." NTIA should also keep program requirements "simple and uniform," ensure a "fair and open competitive process," and support a "holistic approach to evaluating deployment proposals," she said. The agency should also require states and subgrantees to "provide information about locations or areas subject to existing broadband deployment awards" or other "enforceable commitments" to deploy speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps in addition to relying on the FCC's maps, Marsh said. It's "critical that this transformative investment be effectively and efficiently managed," she said.