Key Insights From $42.5 Billion BEAD Program Deadline Extension

On June 5, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a tentative agenda for its next Open Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, June 26 at 10:30 AM ET. This release occurred a day before Commissioners Simington and Starks stepped down from their roles at the FCC, leaving the Commission with only two sitting commissioners—Chairman Carr and Commissioner Gomez. A quorum of three commissioners is required in order for the FCC to conduct Commission-level business. While the Commission will be able to continue with bureau-level proceedings, the lack of quorum raises legal and practical questions about the Commission’s ability to adopt new rules, such as the rules contained in the two draft Report and Orders below. Quorum, however, can be regained if Congress can confirm President Trump’s nominee, Olivia Trusty, as a new Republican Commissioner prior to the June Open Meeting. Recognizing this, on June 12, Senate Majority Leader Thune filed a “notice of cloture” that will allow the Senate to debate, and then vote, on Trusty’s nomination by the end of next week. Trusty’s appointment would allow the Commission to act on three items that are expected to be considered at the Open Meeting, which are detailed below:

On June 6, 2025, the Commerce Department issued new guidance in the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The guidance, titled the “BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice,” introduces many significant changes to the broadband deployment subsidy program, most notably:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held its May Open Meeting on Thursday, May 22, during which it voted to adopt three items: (1) a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to require holders of certain Commission-issued licenses, authorizations or approvals to certify whether they are owned by, controlled by or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign adversary; (2) a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (R&O/FNPRM) that aims to strengthen requirements and oversight relating to telecommunications certification bodies (TCBs), measurement facilities (test labs) and accreditation bodies; and (3) a FNPRM seeking comment on ways that the 12.7-13.25 gigahertz (GHz) and 42.0-42.5 GHz bands could be used more intensively for satellite communications.

On April 22, 2025, the NTIA issued a Notice of Programmatic Waiver (Waiver Notice) providing a 90-day extension of the Final Proposal deadline in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. The issuance of the Waiver Notice signals that the Department of Commerce is pressing forward with its review of the BEAD program. The Waiver Notice also provides additional clues about the nature of the changes that the Department is contemplating for the BEAD program.

Olivia Trusty, nominee for the open Republican Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) Commissioner position, appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Trusty has significant telecommunications experience on Capitol Hill and is a longtime protégé of Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS). She is the Republican staff lead for the Senate Armed Services Committee, working with the Cybersecurity Subcommittee, where she has worked on issues related to spectrum allocated to military and national security uses. She was also a policy director for the Senate Commerce Committee, and specifically worked with the Communications, Media, and Broadband Subcommittee. Additionally, she was previously a legislative assistant to Sen. Wicker, focusing on matters related to communications, technology, innovation and the internet.

On April 7, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) released a tentative agenda for its next Open Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 28 at 10:30 a.m. ET. The Commission released public drafts of four items that are expected to be considered at the Open Meeting, which are detailed below:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held its March Open Meeting last Thursday, March 27, during which it voted to adopt the three items discussed in our last blog post and recent client alert: (1) a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) exploring alternatives to Global Positioning Technology (GPS), (2) a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) containing proposals to ensure the reliability and interoperability of Next Generation 911 (NG911) networks, and (3) an FNPRM seeking comment on proposals to strengthen caller location accuracy requirements for wireless calls to 911. The final versions of these documents reflected several changes from the drafts that were circulated in early March, as detailed below:

On March 6, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a tentative agenda for its next Open Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, March 27 at 10:30 a.m. ET. The FCC released public drafts of three of the four items expected to be considered at the Open Meeting: