July 24, 2024—ACA Connects and more than 30 other broadband industry groups sent a letter this week to United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo raising the alarm “that a growing numbers of the hundreds of local and regional rural broadband providers we represent are increasingly concerned about their ability to participate in the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.”
The letter specifically raises concerns that unworkable affordability mandates are putting the program in jeopardy. It states, “Allowing, and in fact mandating, unrealistically low rates can undermine our shared goal of providing affordable broadband to those who need it most by making participation economically infeasible for rural broadband providers.”
The broadband groups outline five actions the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), an agency of the Department of Commerce, must take to ensure the success of BEAD.
This includes, “Requir[ing] each State to revise the low-cost service option rate proposed or approved in its Initial Proposal so that the rate is more reasonably tied to providers’ realistic costs, such as by using the FCC’s Urban Rate Survey benchmark.”
CLICK HERE to read the full letter.