Policyband

Policyband

D.C. Memo: NTIA Approves BEAD Money for 15 States. Will Elon Sue to Steer More Locations to Starlink?

Musk Warned Virginia, Louisiana They Needed to Give LEOs Bigger Piece of the BEAD Pie

Ted Hearn's avatar
Ted Hearn
Nov 19, 2025
∙ Paid

▪️Nexstar-TEGNA to FCC: We’ll be at 54.5%, Waiver Please▪️Scalia Protege: FCC Can’t Raise 39% Cap▪️Scripps CEO: Sinclair Merger Talks Went Nowhere▪️Why Was West Va. Dropped from the BEAD List?▪️Meta Beats FTC in Instagram Antitrust Case▪️ICLE Scholars: FCC Has Authority to Scuttle Retrans ▪️House Panel Passes Bill Banning LFA Review of Cable TV Transfers▪️Schiff, Ruiz Introduce Tribal Broadband Bill


BEAD: NTIA approved Tuesday final broadband deployment plans for 15 states and three territories under the $42.5 billion BEAD program. It was a major breakthrough for a Biden-era broadband program that failed to connect a single unserved location in three years of trying. “We are delivering the Benefit of the Bargain through the BEAD program that best serves the interests of the American people,” said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “After stripping away burdensome rules and regulations and wasteful requirements, taxpayers will save billions in unnecessary costs while connecting those in need to high-speed broadband through th

e full spectrum of broadband technologies.” NTIA said Tuesday’s 18 final proposals will save about $6 billion. In the group of 15 states, NTIA approved the plans submitted by Virginia and Louisiana. NTIA said Louisiana has approval to start spending $498.2 million in BEAD funds. (More after paywall.)

From left: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth, and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Ted Hearn
Publisher Terms
Substack
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture