The NTIA will require states to evaluate projects on a technologically neutral basis, which could prevent rural areas from accessing fibre
The NTIA has released an updated set of requirements for evaluating projects that qualify for BEAD funding
On 6 June 2025, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), under the direction of the US Department of Commerce, released an updated notice of funding opportunity for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The document outlines a restructured set of criteria for awarding the $42.45bn (£31.4bn) in public funding allocated for network development under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) 2021. As widely expected, the new guidelines direct the state agencies to reassess grant applications on a technologically neutral basis and to consider cost of deployment above all other criteria. The notice additionally rescinds a number of criteria for operators that sought BEAD funds under the Biden Administration, including affordability standards, requirements for wholesale access and net neutrality obligations. In announcing the changes, Howard Lutnick (Secretary, US Department of Commerce) described the move as “an end to wasteful spending” and promised “connectivity delivered around the country at a fraction of the cost of the original program”.
States must now only consider project cost in determining eligibility
Under the new notice, all states will be required to conduct an additional “Benefit of the Bargain” grant round and rescind prior plans and announced awards supporting network rollouts. States will no longer be expected to assign priority status to full fibre projects, as was required by the Biden Administration, and instead assign equal weight to any proposed project that meets the minimum quality of service standards: 100/20Mbps speeds with latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds and the capacity to adapt to evolving connectivity demands, as well as the rollout of new generations of mobile and wireless technologies such as 5G. Instead, projects will be weighted almost exclusively on delivering the lowest total cost to connect the included premises, which will be evaluated in the aggregate instead of being determined on an average cost per premises. If any projects propose a budget within 15% of the lowest cost project, state-level administrators may additionally consider the speed of deployment and the technical capabilities of the network technology proposed at their own discretion. These changes are specifically intended to increase the use of satellite and fixed wireless access (FWA) in states’ BEAD plans, with the NTIA describing the fibre preference advanced previously as “unjust and unfair”.
Projects may now define low cost tariffs on their own terms, without state influence
In redirecting the evaluation of applications to only focus on cost, the NTIA also rolled back a number of requirements made for state-level administrators, particularly in relation to the equity and access elements of the programme. Specifically, the NTIA removed requirements related to:
Climate resilience: State were required to report on how their plan accounted for changing meteorological risks of climate change and ensured resilient connectivity into the future;
Open access: States were encouraged to positively weight projects that would provide open, wholesale access to last-mile infrastructure;
Municipal networks: States were required to consider non-traditional network operators, specifically local governments, and describe their decision not to award funding to these operators;
Net neutrality: States were required to disqualify projects that imposed data usage caps or unreasonable traffic management plans; and
Affordability: States were required to evaluate projects based on the availability of a low cost and “middle-class” affordable plans.
Regarding affordability, projects will still be required to include a low cost tariff offering for eligible consumers, per the obligations specifically defined in the IIJA. However, the NTIA will no longer allow states to specifically define terms for low cost tariffs, either by setting a specific price cap or issuing other pricing guidance, and must accept whatever definition of low cost is proposed by applicants. The quality of service standards for low cost tariffs, which are the same as the general standards, will remain. In the new notice, the NTIA describes the prior approach to affordability within BEAD as “illegal rate regulation”, of which new state-level laws mandating social tariffs have similarly been accused.
The changes to the programme will delay funding distribution and severely reduce the likelihood that rural communities will gain access to fibre networks
States will be required to complete the additional evaluation round and submit an amended final plan for BEAD spending to the NTIA within 90 days, which will then have a further 90 days to review each proposal. This delay in evaluation and ultimately the disbursement of BEAD funds, including to three states (Louisiana, Nevada, and Delaware) that already received approval from the NTIA on their final plans, has been a key point of criticism since the Trump Administration took office. The requirement to conduct an additional round of proposals and evaluation will also result in a significant cost to state-level offices responsible for administering BEAD funding. Members of Congress as well as civil society advocates, particularly from rural communities, have also criticised the changes as excluding rural regions from accessing fibre and condemning them to substandard and more expensive services provided via satellite and FWA. While the BEAD Program was previously described as a once-in-a-generation investment to build networks for the next century, Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada now characterised the changes to the scheme as “a slap in the face to rural communities”.
