FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized the Biden administration’s implementation of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program established by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill.
Carr noted that after two years, not a single American has been connected to high-speed internet with the funding, and the administration does not expect construction to begin until 2025.
Carr argued the program is failing to close the “digital divide” and risks squandering funds by prioritizing partisan goals over effective policy, such as preferencing government-run networks and adding climate and diversity requirements unrelated to the goal of expanding broadband access.
In 2021, the Biden Administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans.
Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at earliest.
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) June 14, 2024
“In 2021, the Biden Administration got $42.45 billion from Congress to deploy high-speed Internet to millions of Americans. Years later, it has not connected even 1 person with those funds. In fact, it now says that no construction projects will even start until 2025 at earliest,” the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner stated.
“Meanwhile, the Biden Admin has been layering a partisan political agenda on top of this $42.45B program – a liberal wish list that has nothing to do with connecting Americans. Climate change mandates, tech biases, DEI requirements, favoring government-run networks + more,” he wrote.
If not corrected, Carr warned rural communities could be left behind.
“The timeline is bad. The policy cuts that the Biden Administration have made are even worse. The Biden Administration has set up a $42.45 billion program that is poised to miss the mark and leave rural communities behind,” Carr said.
“The Biden Administration is barreling towards a broadband blunder. Congress has appropriated enough money to end the digital divide, but the Biden Administration is squandering the moment by putting partisan political goals above smart policy,” he said. “It is doing so through rate regulation, through union, technology, and DEI preferences, and through a thumb on the scale for government run networks. All of this threatens to leave rural communities behind.”
