from the empathy-is-not-allowed dept
The Trump administration is once again warning states that they risk losing billions of dollars in historic infrastructure bill grants — if they attempt to make the taxpayer-subsidized broadband actually affordable.
That’s the updated guidance coming out of the Trump National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is tasked with coordinating the looming $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant made possible by the 2021 infrastructure bill.
We’ve already noted how Republicans (who voted against this program repeatedly, then whined about it taking too long) have introduced massive new delays by redirecting billions in BEAD dollars away from local fiber ISPs and toward Elon Musk’s congested, expensive satellite broadband service, Starlink.
But Republicans were also incensed by the fact that the original BEAD program, as crafted by Congress, included provisions trying to ensure that ISPs that take taxpayer money at least make a fleeting effort to offer one tier of service that’s affordable to low-income Americans.
The updated NTIA guidance still includes language suggesting that big ISPs should provide a “lower cost” broadband tier, but it lets companies like AT&T and Comcast dictate what “low cost” actually means, rendering it effectively useless, according to Ars Technica:
“The Trump administration points to the latter language in its argument that ISPs alone must choose the price of the low-cost option. The new version of the BEAD FAQ says that states may not require specific rates for the low-cost service option (LCSO), even when required by state law.”
This is the Trump administration directly pandering to big shitty telecom giants like Comcast, who have bristled at the idea of being forced to make broadband affordable, even if it’s only to poor Americans. It’s also a roundabout way to pre-empt the handful of states that have been looking at new state laws requiring that U.S. telecom giants make broadband affordable to poor people.
States that balk at eliminating affordability requirements, or the requirement that they slather Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk with billions of dollars, risk missing out on billions of dollars in historic broadband subsidies. The punishments also will likely curtail state leaders from openly calling out how corrupt and buffoonish this all is, lest they also want to risk losing funds.
Republicans have taken a hatchet to broadband affordability programs across the board, including killing the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provided a $30 broadband discount for low-income Americans — as well as killing a program that provided free Wi-Fi to rural school kids at no additional cost to taxpayers.
The Trump admin also illegally dismantled the Digital Equity Act, which was a bare-bones effort to stop race and class discrimination in broadband upgrades. And they’ve effectively destroyed what’s left of U.S. federal consumer protection and corporate oversight, ensuring that U.S. ISPs face zero meaningful penalties should they rip you off.
As with most everything the Trump administration does, corruptly pandering to big telecom is pretty far from any sort of “populism,” and only ensures that U.S. broadband — even if you’ve paid for it via your tax dollars — remains equal parts inferior and expensive.
Filed Under: affordable, bead, broadband, fcc, infrastructure bill, internet, telecom, trump
