"UPDATE, February 5: This week, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration issued a new version of its Frequently Asked Questions and Answers (FAQ) document for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The new FAQ appeared to address the letter SpaceX sent to broadband offices last week demand some relaxing of BEAD standards for low-Earth orbit (LEO) providers (see original story below)."
"SpaceX has issued a document addressed to state broadband offices that it said constituted a rider outlining the differences between the rules of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program and how SpaceX perceives its responsibilities as a low-Earth orbit (LEO) provider. The letter seeks to release LEO providers from many BEAD Program standards. The rider - attributed to SpaceX Senior Counsel Shea Boyd - threatens to exit the BEAD Program if the changes are not made."
NTIA issued an updated BEAD FAQ that reiterated the 100/20 Mbps minimum for qualifying broadband and stated that no BEAD statutory requirements or program rules may be altered by a BEAD subgrant agreement. The FAQ appeared to respond to a SpaceX rider sent to state broadband offices seeking relaxed BEAD standards for low-Earth orbit providers. The SpaceX rider, attributed to Senior Counsel Shea Boyd, sought exemptions from many BEAD obligations and threatened to exit the program if changes were not made. The rider argued that LEO capacity is dynamically allocated and that reserving capacity would be wasteful and inefficient. A published commentary advised states against signing the proposed contract riders.
Read at Telecompetitor
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