As speculation mounts about the prospects of broadband funding being “clawed back” or cut nationally, it undoubtedly must be of concern to leaders of the Oklahoma Broadband Office.
But they’re not talking.
“Thanks for checking, but we’re not weighing in on this one,” responded Tim Allen, Communications Director of the Oklahoma office.
The questions we posed were:
- Having reviewed all that, is the director worried about a serious cut in funding for Oklahoma’s broadband expansion programs?
2) With Trump’s cost-cutting efforts, does he believe there might not be as much federal funding for the Oklahoma Broadband Office?
3) Has the Director been in communication with any federal officials regarding any possible concern for a loss in broadband funds for Oklahoma?
4) Have Oklahomans in areas where broadband projects were initiated in the past few months actually received enhanced broadband service? If so, how many and where?
FCC director Brendan Carr is leading some of the cost-cutting reviews of broadband funding or BEAD which stands for Broadband equity, access, and deployment. He’s taking some serious looks at the $42.5 billion handed out by the Biden administration to develop broadband service into rural areas of the nation, including the unserved areas of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma’s share of BEAD funds totaled nearly $800 million in 2023. It came to $797.4 million.
As recent as September 2024, the Oklahoma Broadband Office approved more than $158 million to expand affordable high-speed internet service to nearly 28,000 homes and businesses in the state. Funded through the American Rescue Plan Act Capital Projects Fund (ARPA CPF), the broadband board gave unanimous approval to 50 grants with 12 internet service providers (ISPs) for projects in 28 counties. The grants will be coupled with more than $109 million in matching funds from the ISPs.
In December, Gov. Kevin Stitt took part in an official launching of a $65.9 million high-speed internet expansion project in southern Oklahoma involving internet service provider Hilliary.
The projects, funded through $43.2 million in federal grants administered by the OBO will be coupled with $22.8 million in matching funds from companies under the Hilliary brand including, Medicine Park Telephone, Oklahoma Fiber Network, Oklahoma Western Telephone, Phoenix Long Distance, Southern Plains Cable, Southwest Oklahoma Telephone, and Texhoma Fiber.
However, BEAD has its critics including some Republicans who contend it is over-regulated and ripe for waste, fraud and abuse, reported Venable LLP.
Broadband Funding and BEAD
Brendan Carr is likely to work with Republican legislators to streamline and consolidate federal broadband funding programs, including BEAD, which Republicans have criticized as duplicative, delayed (no BEAD funds will have been disbursed by the end of the Biden administration), over-regulated, and ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse.
Of note, House Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky) has stated that Republicans across government are “prepared to put the country on a new course,” away from the Biden administration’s broadband funding approach, and is signaling that Congress will likely seek to claw back the $42.5 billion currently allocated to the BEAD program. The Biden administration “failed on its promise to connect all Americans by bogging down the BEAD program with unnecessary red tape that prevented even a single American from being connected despite a $42 billion price tag,” Guthrie said during a recent House Commerce meeting. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the likely Senate Commerce chairman, recently asked the Commerce Department and National Telecommunications and Information Association (NTIA) to pause further BEAD activities involving final actions until the new Congress could review and weigh in on changes. Again, all this signals significant change to the BEAD program.
Carr is likely fully on board with such efforts and willing to work with congressional Republicans and the Trump administration to review and modify the BEAD program. He has criticized the BEAD program for overlapping with existing programs, promoting the overbuilding of existing networks, including price controls, and its slow rollout. He has stated that the program picks technological winners and losers.
Carr told Congress last year: “Without greater coordination, BEAD funds will undoubtedly be spent overbuilding areas that already have, or will have, high-speed Internet service subsidized through other federal support programs or otherwise available. And a lack of coordination is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to concerns about the future of the Biden administration’s BEAD program. As I have highlighted previously, the Biden administration has deviated substantially from the statutory text Congress has passed, including through technology preferences and provisions that encourage states to engage in rate regulation.” While the FCC does not have direct authority over BEAD, Carr’s views will carry great weight as Congress modifies the program.
Republicans may also adjust BEAD eligibility to include funding of satellite technologies. Carr has praised Starlink, Elon Musk’s satellite venture, and has criticized regulatory barriers that he believes have unfairly limited Starlink’s participation in BEAD.
In addition, the Affordability Connectivity Program (ACP) exhausted its congressionally appropriated funds over the past summer. As a result, the ACP program has effectively been terminated because of the lack of funds. The new Republican-controlled Congress would need to decide to restore funding for the ACP, which could be a steep hill to climb given where Congressional Republicans are on budget issues.