Administration Ignored Congress in Structuring Broadband Grant Rules: O'Rielly
The Biden administration slammed the door on technology neutrality in how it's awarding broadband funds (see 2205130054), former FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly blogged Wednesday. “Effectively ignoring this basic principle (and the underlying law), the Administration essentially has done everything possible…
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-- absent strict mandates -- to favor fiber broadband technology over any other when awarding the $41.601 billion in competitive grants under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program,” O’Rielly charged: “In doing so, the Administration has unfairly penalized other innovative technologies, such as licensed fixed wireless access providers or Low Earth Orbit Satellite systems. This has huge ramifications, including driving up broadband costs and deployment timelines in the short-term and leaving consumers unserved in the longer-term.” The BEAD rules make the job of state broadband offices “that much harder,” he said.