Communications infrastructure and connectivity are the lifeblood of America’s innovation economy and are crucial to the security of our nation. This is why AT&T has committed to investing tens of billions of dollars annually to build state-of-the-art broadband networks throughout the country.
With that in mind, we welcome the new Speed for BEAD Act in the U.S. House and the Department of Commerce’s recent pivot to cut burdensome red tape from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program’s rules and adopt a more tech-neutral approach, reining in past government overreach that went far beyond the law’s intent.
As a company that has actively bid on BEAD projects across many states to expand the number of connected Americans, we have long advocated for these sorts of commonsense policies. We expect and hope these changes will ensure every rule is aimed at furthering the program’s objective. Removing unnecessary bureaucracy that drives up costs and slows down broadband deployment is essential to keeping America economically and technologically competitive.
A mixed technology approach
The Commerce Department is largely focused on how states can better incorporate alternative technologies, such as unlicensed fixed wireless and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services, into their overall deployment plans. They are also focused on cost effective deployment of high-speed internet.
We know fiber is the best solution in most places. It’s the fastest, lowest latency, and most efficient technology. It’s also the most scalable platform for meeting the goals Congress enshrined in the statute:
“ensure that the network[s] … can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses; and support the deployment of 5G, successor wireless technologies, and other advanced services.”
Fiber is the best way to ensure BEAD-funded projects meet—and even exceed—the statutory 100/20 Mbps minimum speed threshold for subscribers, even as demand for capacity increases. And, studies have shown that 100/20 Mbps effectively provides all the benefits of high-speed internet connectivity for the vast majority of users.1 A high-quality fiber connection gives users access to all the tools they need to fully thrive online: access to job training and education, the ability to access health care regardless of how far they live from a doctor, a platform for remote work and entrepreneurship, and more. Perhaps more importantly, investing in fiber today ensures that we are not only connecting Americans but strengthening U.S. competitiveness, and delivering a bargain to taxpayers for decades to come.
We also recognize that in more remote locations across the U.S. that private capital has historically struggled to reach, LEO satellite and unlicensed fixed wireless services are sensible solutions. Satellite technology is particularly useful to terrestrial networks seeking to fill gaps in coverage. In fact, AT&T is using satellite to augment our own mobile network offerings through our agreement with AST SpaceMobile.
If the BEAD program is going to succeed in providing all Americans access to high-speed internet service, while also being a good steward of taxpayer funds, states need at their disposal the full complement of technologies that can meet the Infrastructure Act’s speed and latency requirements. In doing so, states can stretch their BEAD allocations to the furthest extent. It would be better to get every American on the internet now than to run out of money and leave the job unfinished. States should be required to complete the job with the ample funds allocated to them.
Leverage work already done
The Commerce Department has rightly committed to working closely with states to eliminate delays and waste. A significant amount of work has already been done—by both industry and the states—to prepare for BEAD projects. As Commerce streamlines rules and cuts costly requirements, we urge it to take into account the important work already completed. Giving states the flexibility to determine how to leverage the tremendous efforts to date will ensure that projects get underway as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
Ensuring BEAD projects are cost-efficient is an important priority, but to ensure Americans are getting the most bang for their buck, cost-efficiency evaluations should consider (1) speed, latency, capacity and reliability, (2) the full life-cycle cost of a particular project, (3) whether that project has the scale to continue to meet the needs of Americans into the future, and (4) whether it has the capacity to serve all locations covered.
The bottom line
As the Department of Commerce and Congress review current BEAD rules, it’s important to put Americans first. Commonsense changes that streamline the program and make it more efficient will ensure the program quickly brings the benefit of high-speed broadband, using the right mix of technologies, across the country—continuing to keep America competitive.
1 Deloitte Insights “Bandwidth demand forecast” (November 29, 2023)
