D.C. Memo: Maine's BEAD Program Delayed after Talks with NTIA

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BEAD: First it was West Virginia. Now it looks like it’s Maine’s turn to make some hard decisions. Last night the Maine Connectivity Authority sent out an email saying its work on the BEAD program would be delayed following discussions last week with NTIA program officers. “Late last week, NTIA confirmed that anticipated updates to the BEAD program will make it infeasible for MCA to complete the program requirements in the previously defined timeframe,” said MCA Chief Operating Officer Brian Allenby and Communications Manager Jenna Ingram in the email. The “updates” was a likely reference to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s March 5 statement that he was engaged in a “rigorous review of the [$42.5 billion] BEAD program,” highlighted by the need to take “a tech-neutral approach that is rigorously driven by outcomes, so states can provide Internet access for the lowest cost.” Lutnick’s language was taken to mean that states need to spend less on fiber and more on fixed wireless and satellite. Maine's deadline to provide NTIA with its BEAD Final Proposal is June 12, 2025. Lutnick’s pending changes to BEAD will not make it possible for Maine to meet that deadline. In late March, Lutnick basically sent West Virginia back to the BEAD drawing board, providing a three-month window to come up with a new funding plan to close the Mountain State’s digital divide. MCA disclosed some information about the pace of activity inside Commerce. “An updated policy notice is currently expected from NTIA in mid-May, although the final timing and the scope of the program changes under that notice are still to be determined,” Allenby and Ingram said. (continued after paywall.)