WTA Weighs in with NTIA on Alternative Broadband Technologies for BEAD

In a letter sent in response to NTIA’s request for comment on its Proposed Guidance for Eligible Entities with respect to the choice of Alternative Broadband Technologies for the BEAD Program, WTA urged NTIA to use its remaining BEAD funds to fully fund Priority Broadband Projects and then Reliable Broadband Service Projects before funding Alternative Technologies locations if BEAD resources prove insufficient to deploy universal 100/20 Mbps service. Moreover, WTA stated that those Alternative Technologies locations that are funded should predominately be those remote locations that cannot be reached economically by Priority Broadband Projects and Reliable Broadband Service Projects and that can be funded as part of such Priority Broadband Projects and Reliable Broadband Service Projects in order to enable them to achieve service deployment to 100 percent of their eligible locations. WTA also detailed the drawbacks of proposed alternative technologies such as unlicensed fixed wireless and low-earth orbiting satellites.