NTIA Policy Changes Open Door to Satellite in BEAD Program

New policy changes to the U.S. federal BEAD broadband program open the door to satellite connectivity with the adoption of a “technology-neutral” approach. 

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a policy notice on Friday for the Broadband Equity, Access, and

Deployment (BEAD) program, directing changes to how states and territories administer the program. 

The policy notice adopts a technology-neutral approach to priority broadband projects. Previous BEAD policy was that priority broadband projects were “fiber first.” According to the notice, the previous fiber policy “relegated other capable technologies, including terrestrial wireless and Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite services to a third-tier status.” 

According to the new policy, “fiber-optic technology, cable modem/hybrid fiber-coaxial technology, LEO satellite services, and terrestrial fixed wireless technology utilizing entirely licensed spectrum, entirely unlicensed spectrum, or a hybrid of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, can be used in applications for priority broadband projects.”  

The changes state that projects must provide broadband service at no less than 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, with latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds. 

“Thanks to today’s reforms, the BEAD program can focus on what Congress intended: broadband deployment. Shelving the previous Administration’s unnecessary burdens, and opening access to all technology types, connects more Americans to broadband more quickly, and at a lower cost to the American taxpayer,” Adam Cassady, acting assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and acting NTIA administrator said in a release.