WTA Urges Continued Momentum on BEAD to Commerce Secretary

In a letter sent yesterday to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, WTA encouraged the Commerce Department to move quickly on any changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program so that proposed broadband projects are not unnecessarily delayed. In the letter, WTA President Pat McElroy wrote:

 “…we understand the need for oversight and refinement, we believe that major revisions to the program that would delay its implementation for a year or more are unnecessary and counterproductive. Instead, we encourage you to provide states and their broadband offices the flexibility to course-correct as needed, particularly regarding provisions related to permitting, labor, low-cost pricing plan options, and alternative technologies. Such an approach will allow BEAD projects to move forward and begin construction this year.”

In addition, the letter emphasized the importance of fiber as the preferred broadband technology due to its scalability, reliability, and long-term cost-effectiveness and cautioned against over-reliance on less capable technologies despite potentially lower up-front costs.

The letter also urged the Secretary to release BEAD funds for the three states – Louisiana, Nevada, and Delaware – whose Final Proposals have already been approved.