Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday that he's standing pat on the spectrum legislative language he released last week as part of the panel's portion of the GOP's planned budget reconciliation package, despite ongoing objections from some Armed Services Committee Republicans who agreed to the deal. Meanwhile, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told us Tuesday that he's willing to accept the Senate Commerce proposal’s language exempting the 7.4-8.4 GHz band from potential sale.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, praised NTIA’s rewritten rules for its $42.5 billion BEAD program, which require states to reapply for the money (see 2506060052). Panel ranking member Maria Cantwell of Washington and other Democrats have strongly criticized NTIA and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (see 2506090051).
Satellite broadband providers, especially Starlink and Amazon’s Kuiper service, are likely the big winners in the Commerce Department’s rewriting of the BEAD program rules, New Street’s Blair Levin told investors Monday. Smaller providers that use unlicensed spectrum to offer broadband also won, he said. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, slammed the revised rules that the Trump administration released Friday (see 2506060052).
NTIA released Friday its long-awaited plan for awarding $42.45 billion in BEAD program money, reversing much of what the Biden administration developed in the initial rules. Delaware, Louisiana and Nevada, which have completed state plans, will have to relaunch the process. Fiber will no longer get priority under the plan. NTIA called the guidance a “BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice,” rather than a new notice of funding opportunity.
Senate Commerce Committee Republicans released the panel's portion of a budget reconciliation bill Thursday night with language that proposes mandating that the FCC sell at least 800 MHz of reallocated spectrum, as expected (see 2506050064). Some communications industry groups praised the measure, but observers said they expect other stakeholders to criticize it. Lobbyists said they expect that Senate Commerce Democrats will likely vote against the proposal, as party-affiliated House Commerce Committee members did last month when that panel marked up its part (see 2505140062) of what became the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR-1).
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told members of the House Appropriations Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee (CJS) on Thursday that NTIA will likely issue a promised notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for its $42.5 billion BEAD program on Friday. It will require all states to resubmit their applications. Meanwhile, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who chairs the Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee, told us she remains on the fence about President Donald Trump’s proposal to claw back $1.1 billion in advance CPB funding as part of a rescission package that congressional GOP leaders want expedited (see 2506030065).
The Commerce Department should take its time to ensure it gets BEAD rules right, WISPA President David Zumwalt said in a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Moving too quickly “only serves to perpetuate the flaws in BEAD’s original design,” said the letter, released Wednesday. It also urged Lutnick not to ignore the service offered by wireless ISPs.
NASHVILLE -- BEAD deployment activity will necessitate permitting reform at the federal, state and local levels, C Spire Vice President-Government Relations Chris Champion said Tuesday at the Fiber Broadband Association's annual conference and trade show. Agencies are aware “they are about to be bombarded” with applications, he said. Those permitting reforms must be paired with appropriations that allow agencies to staff up to handle applications, he said. Numerous other speakers echoed the call for permitting reform.
NASHVILLE -- State broadband officials and broadband industry executives repeatedly voiced frustration Monday at Fiber Connect 2025 about BEAD's state of limbo. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's testimony Thursday before the House Appropriations Committee on his department's FY 2026 budget request might give states and providers stronger direction, said Lori Adams, Nokia's vice president-broadband policy and funding strategy, at the Fiber Broadband Association's annual trade show and conference. But concrete guidance from Commerce and NTIA will almost surely take longer, she added. Also at Fiber Connect 2025, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, D-Wash., said the U.S. is squatting on much of its spectrum holdings (see 2506020012).
While BEAD is critical to serving the most difficult-to-reach 5.5 million homes in the U.S., the money available through the program pales in comparison to what providers are spending to bolster broadband connectivity, Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton said in an interview. The slow pace in making changes to the BEAD program has been “a colossal failure” on NTIA’s part, he added. FBA will hold its Fiber Connect conference next week in Nashville.