News
A spate of recent changes has brought several telecom policy objectives of Donald Trump’s administration into focus, but questions remain.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Changes have been coming fast and furious during the first days of Donald Trump’s presidential administration, and the FCC has been far from immune.
New leadership at the Federal Communications Commission has wasted little time changing directions, signifying that business as usual is over.
Shortly after being designated as chair, Commissioner Brendan Carr announced action to end the FCC’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) directives, following up on an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
He’s also reopened previously dismissed complaints against broadcasting organizations, as was reported by other media outlets like The Hill last week.
Additionally, Carr has further targeted what he considers “regulatory overreach from Washington” during his first days as chair.
This weekend, it became known that Carr ended the FCC’s consideration of a proposed ban of bulk billing by service providers at multifamily properties.
The proposed ban, fiercely opposed by many in the multifamily industry, was removed from consideration on Friday, according to a Monday release from Carr’s office.
Big questions remain
As these and other changes add clarity to the landscape providers will have to navigate in 2025, questions remain.
There are questions about the Trump-touted joint venture to develop American AI infrastructure between Oracle, OpenAI, and SoftBank.
The joint venture, planning to invest $500 billion, was immediately attacked from, arguably, the most influential figure in Trump’s orbit: Elon Musk.
“They don’t actually have the money,” Musk posted on X following the president’s White House appearance with representatives from all three companies. “SoftBank has well under $10B secured. I have that on good authority.”
There are other questions, too.
Notably, many of those questions swirl around the future of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
The program, a massive $42.45 billion push to achieve the vision of ‘Internet for All,’ has been a target of Trump’s attacks in the past.
Memorably, while on Joe Rogan’s podcast in October, Trump criticized the program, which was born with the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.
“Elon can do it for nothing,” Trump stated at the time.
So, what’s going to happen to BEAD?
Despite Trump’s attacks on the BEAD Program, its future may not be in jeopardy.
Jade Piros de Carvalho, VP of Broadband Advocacy and Partnerships for the Bonfire Infrastructure Group, spoke to why she believes the BEAD Program will survive.
She pointed to a little discussed provision in the guidance for initial BEAD proposals, known as Requirement 17.
“While originally intended to give states access to up to 20 percent of their funding early, NTIA smartly advised states to request 100 percent of their funding in their Requirement 17 language,” Piros de Carvalho said. “States listened.”
As a result, according to Piros de Carvalho, who formerly ran the Office of Broadband Development in Kansas, states entered into award agreements with the NTIA upon approval of their initial proposals.
As was previously reported by Broadband Communities, all 56 eligible states and territories have had their initial proposals approved as of December.
Texas, which has been allocated $3.3 billion to deploy or upgrade internet networks, was the final state approved.
“Now, I’m not an attorney,” Piros de Carvalho said. “But it seems to me that if clawbacks were attempted by a new administration, that would amount to breaching contracts/agreements made with the states.”
According to Piros de Carvalho, the issue presents a challenging dilemma for the Trump Administration.
“Most of that money is going to red areas,” she said. “It’s a political quagmire for an administration that wants to overhaul the program but knows that it’s popular on the whole.”
Learn more about Broadband Communities Summit 2025 in Houston.
Also, click here to subscribe to the Broadband Communities newsletter.