It is a measure of how much the broadband business has changed when the concept of “technology neutral,” once the preferred federal government policy, has morphed into fiber first, then “alternative technologies.” Fiber is now the clear favorite over fixed wireless or satellite connections.
Many companies and associations, including the rural-focused NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association and ACA Connects–America’s Communications Association, say that Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) decisions should continue with that assumption.
In August, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is distributing funds from the $42 billion BEAD program through the states, asked for comments on a draft policy statement reopening the question of alternative technologies.
Under current rules, Eligible Entities (the states and District of Columbia) may award funding to projects that include alternative technologies only when needed to reach all unserved and underserved households. The draft statement slightly widens potential alternative technology application.
Some in Congress and industry have called for returning to a more technology-neutral approach.
“NTIA, to its credit, seems to finally be showing an openness to alternative technologies like unlicensed fixed wireless and low Earth-orbit satellite,” House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) said during a recent committee hearing. “By failing to do this from the beginning they have wasted time and money, which only results in fewer Americans getting connected.”
But, in joint comments to NTIA, NTCA and ACA Connects said, “Various technologies will of course have a place in ensuring ‘Internet for All,’ but NTIA and Eligible Entities should pursue all avenues in prioritizing the deployment of fiber infrastructure to as many locations as possible, before turning to other reliable broadband technologies to eligible locations where necessary and then finally looking to the use of alternative [i.e., non-reliable] technologies in very limited circumstances.”
NTIA lists hybrid fiber coaxial, DSL and licensed fixed wireless as “other reliable broadband technologies.”
NTCA/ACA Connects said that states should “first fund those [alternative technologies] that bring fiber closest to eligible locations.” For example, a fiber connection might feed an unlicensed fixed wireless service to the home. A provider could later upgrade that subscriber to a direct fiber connection. Funding for low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite services, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, should be the “last resort,” they said.
The commenters were especially concerned about the mechanics of LEO funding. The NTIA draft statement suggests states use BEAD funds “for the reservation of network capacity.” NTCA/ACA called that approach “unworkable,” noting that it would be difficult for states to account for satellite capacity that beams over state and international borders.
“Given the many complex questions that remain unanswered, we believe the most thoughtful course would instead be for NTIA to issue a separate follow-on notice seeking more focused comment on how subsidizing shared connectivity on LEO systems could work as a practical matter,” they said.
“Importantly, low-earth orbiting satellites, which have a narrow market niche, will not give people in more remote areas access to the same robust and reliable connectivity most all Americans enjoy,” said ACA Connects President and CEO Grant Spellmeyer in a joint press release with NTCA addressing alternative technologies.
