BEAD Takeaways from NTIA Oversight Hearing

NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson testified before the House Technology and Communications Subcommittee at an oversight hearing on Tuesday.

Davidson reiterated the limits of the BEAD’s fiber preference and touched on the agency’s preparation to expedite permitting processes for subgrantees. He also discussed an unpublished Department of Defense report that he said paints a bleak picture for spectrum sharing in the lower 3 GHz band.

“Tech neutral”

House Republicans again took issue with BEAD’s fiber preference, arguing it strays too far from the Infrastructure Act’s “tech neutral” vision. But Davidson and the NTIA have given them something to be happy about by nixing Ohio’s proposal to treat licensed fixed wireless as unserved.

“I was happy to see that,” said Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta, R-Ohio.

The state amended and has since submitted volume one of its initial proposal to the NTIA.

“NTIA provided comments noting that the proposed fixed wireless modification would be inconsistent with BEAD’s definition of reliable broadband service,” the proposal reads.

Davidson avoided directly answering questions about how the agency would treat Michigan’s draft volume one, which attempted to make the same change.

“I can’t really answer the question without seeing the totality of what they’re proposing and what the state will be working on,” he said.

Permitting 

The NTIA has spun up a team to work with other federal land use agencies on streamlining the permitting process for BEAD subgrantees, Davidson said.

“The whole federal government has set up a cross-agency working group specifically on permitting,” he said. “This is a big issue that we know is coming in 2025 and 2026.”

Getting the various permits required to build infrastructure has been flagged by broadband providers as a potential barrier to deploying BEAD projects.

The NTIA is also asking states to address local permitting strategies in their BEAD plans, Davidson said.

Shot clock

Davidson defended the one-year timeframe states will have to award grants after their volume twos are approved. Some state broadband heads have said the window could be too little time to evaluate applications and get funds out the door.

“We have put the one-year shot clock on states because we want them to move quickly,” he said. “Every week or month that we wait is another week or month that American communities are not getting the broadband that they need.”

He said the agency will be “watching to make sure [states] can” meet the deadline.

Final BABA waiver

The NTIA issued in August a proposed waiver from Build America, Buy America rules for BEAD projects. Davidson said a final version of that waiver is coming soon.

“I would say it’s weeks, not months,” he said.

BABA rules, also part of the Infrastructure Act, place two requirements on federally funded projects: 55 percent of the component cost be spent with American suppliers and materials must be manufactured in the United States.

The proposed waiver would eliminate the component cost requirement for certain pieces of fiber-optic cable equipment – but not the cable itself – and both requirements for most electronics. 

Davidson did not say how the final waiver would differ from the proposed waiver.

“We received a fair number of comments about it. We’re working through those comments now,” he said.