Tomorrow the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a hearing titled "From Introduction to Implementation: A BEAD Program Progress Report."
In the hearing announcement, Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Subcommittee Chair Bob Latta (R-OH) state that the "hearing will serve as an opportunity to hear about how the implementation of the program is going, better understand the impact of NTIA's rules, and what to expect going forward as states begin to award funds."
Regarding rate regulation and the statutorily mandated "low-cost broadband service option," a concern Free State Foundation President Randolph May addressed in a Perspectives from FSF Scholars published earlier today, the accompanying Majority Staff Memo asserts that "NTIA is responsible for reviewing and approving these low-cost options and has used this requirement as a way to regulate rates. The Committee considers these rate regulated approvals to be a violation of the IIJA's rate regulation prohibition."
Other topics teed up by the Majority Staff Memo include the disconnect between the clear congressional goal of technology neutrality and NTIA's "fiber-first" bias; the need for permitting reform; and the implementation impact of labor, letter of credit, and Buy America requirements.
The following witnesses are scheduled to testify:
- Misty Ann Giles, Director and Chief Operating Officer, Montana Department of Administration
- Basil Alwan, Chief Executive Officer, Tarana Wireless
- Shirley Bloomfield, Chief Executive Office, NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association
- Blair Levin, Policy Analyst, New Street Research and Non-Resident Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Project, Brookings Institution
The hearing will begin at 10:30 am.
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