- Montana’s broadband director was critical of the NTIA’s handling of BEAD at a Senate sub-committee hearing today
- But Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. slammed Republicans for their griping about BEAD
- Meanwhile, NTIA says it’s working as fast and best as it can
Perhaps today was destined for partisan sniping in the U.S.
Tonight, TV station ABC will be hosting the much-anticipated first debate between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. But during the day, the Energy and Commerce Committee hosted a sub-committee hearing about progress on the $45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, during which participants traded some surprising blows and aired grievances that have been bubbling below the surface.
In remarks prepared in advance, Montana broadband director Misty Ann Giles criticized the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), writing that states struggle to navigate the complex BEAD process. Giles works for Montana’s Republican Governor Greg Gianforte.
“NTIA’s functional requests are akin to building a plane while flying it without having the necessary instructions to be successful,” she wrote.
“NTIA has provided either no guidance, guidance given too late, or guidance changing midstream, all with a lack of appreciation for state operations and costs and the needs of our telecommunication providers – this has created a chaotic implementation environment.”
She said that the NTIA has made constant requests for clarity and caused delays. “For example, Montana has often received conflicting or even new and changed guidance after submitting our plans or beginning a previously approved NTIA operational process.”
Giles called the map challenge process “dysfunctional” and said that as states were actively drafting their challenge processes, NTIA changed the requirements several times. She added, “We have yet to receive clarity on permitting, a foundational component of broadband deployment. Based on information in NTIA’s recent permitting workshop, we are mandated to use an NTIA system that will not be available for another six to eight months to evaluate each project’s environmental and historic preservation effects.”
But Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered an opposing perspective, slamming Republicans.
“Unfortunately today we’re likely to hear committee Republicans criticize the implementation of the BEAD program. But we cannot, and should not, forget that every Republican member of this Subcommittee voted against the infrastructure bill and the investments it has already started bringing to their states,” he said. “They will likely complain that the investments are not getting to their states fast enough, but they all voted against the investments in the first place.”
He noted Republications will complain that it’s taking too long to start work on the BEAD projects. But he doesn’t want BEAD to be a “repeat of the Republican FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund program, which was rushed in 2020 to try and give then President Trump a favorable talking point on the campaign trail.”
As a result of the rushed RDOF process, it was plagued by providers defaulting on their commitments. “This program gave us an invaluable lesson in how not to design a broadband program,” said Pallone.
NTIA’s side of the equation
No one from NTIA testified at today’s sub-committee hearing. But in August, Evan Feinman, director of the BEAD program with NTIA, spoke at the Mountain Connect conference in Denver.
At the time, Feinman said of complaints about process and delays, “This is construction. Even if you’ve done a kitchen remodel you know delays happen. Nobody’s going to be unreasonable here. The goal is to get it done. Anybody working in good faith will continue to be supported by NTIA.”
He added NTIA is working with all the states to make sure all taxpayer dollars are used for maximum benefit.
And as for the mapping challenge process? “We’re moving those as fast as we can,” Feinman concluded. “There are literally millions and millions of data points of locations being adjudicated. This is the first time anyone has done a process like this. We had a steep learning curve we had to climb up.”
