Labor Shortages and Permitting Woes Seen Bedeviling BEAD

Numerous speakers called on Congress to provide a lifeline to ACP. FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said ACP lets providers deploy networks with less risk and churn, facilitating deployment, he said. A few states have affordability programs that could serve as a backstop, and ISPs have low-cost programs, “but there's little business case” for keeping millions of households connected for free, he said. The ACP Extension Act (HR-6929/S-3565), which proposes injecting the program with $7 billion for FY 2024, is the only ACP bill that stands a chance of passing both houses of Congress and getting White House approval, Incompas President Angie Kronenberg said. Asked about USF revisions as a means of permanently funding ACP, Kronenberg said that given the huge amount of work that changes would entail, it can’t be relied on as a way of saving ACP in the near term. She called any USF reform in 2024 “highly unlikely.”

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) CEO David Stehlin said the tens of billions spent on closing the digital divide face headwinds in the form of a shortage of about 200,000 construction workers, splicers, network engineers and related staff needed for building broadband networks. More than a quarter of the construction industry is older than 55, and more people are leaving it than arriving, he said. TIA next month will roll out an online portal that includes job listings and links to community colleges and other sources of training, he said. It will advertise the portal on sites frequented by outdoorsmen and others who might gravitate toward outdoor jobs, he said.

In addition, permitting issues “will be a huge challenge” for BEAD deployment, said NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. The U.S. is trying to accelerate permitting at least in areas where it has some control, such as when it comes to federal environmental and historical area permitting. Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi Director Sally Burchfield Doty said as BEAD funds are deployed, the state wants to quicken the implementation process. She said state historical approvals are a “pain point,” and some broadband grant funding will be directed to the state's historical preservation office to try to hasten those approvals.

Local communities that need the most help via BEAD are often the ones most lacking in resources to take part in the state challenge process regarding whether a location or anchor institution is eligible for BEAD funding, Doty said. She said Mississippi's challenge process needs nonprofits and local government participation, but those local governments are often swamped with just day-to-day municipal operations. “Their eyes glaze over” at the prospect of the extra job of local challenges, she said. Having good map data is imperative for states, she said, adding Mississippi is working hard to make its map easily understandable.

ISPs are most active in state challenge processes, with local governments and anchor institutions needing to be more participatory, said Scott Woods, president-public-private partnerships, Ready.net. He said that points to the need for better outreach to local governments and anchor institutions.

AI

Multiple speakers said society remains on the learning curve on AI issues and what policies need to be adopted in response. That education needs to happen before regulation, said Colin Crowell, Blue Owl Group managing director.

AI implementation done right will be “massively beneficial,” but policy must address items such as privacy and labor market impacts, NTIA’s Davidson said. The right guardrails “will create space for innovation,” he added.

The same way browsers made it easy to use the internet without knowledge of networks, large language model AI facilitates using AI without being a programmer, said Milo Medin, former vice president-access and wireless services, Google. As a result, people can access tools that once were the sole domain of experts, he said. AI will bring more competition into numerous realms, Medin said, pointing to commercial photographers having to go up against people who never touch a camera. He said AI is “a great opportunity” for improved productivity as well as competition.

Incompas is creating a public policy center for tackling AI issues, said CEO Chip Pickering. He said Medin, Crowell, former FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, Granite CEO Rob Hale and University of Arizona President Robert Robbins will be the advisers.

Notebook

The FCC's supplemental coverage from space framework on the March agenda (see 2402210057) shows the agency is "headed in the right direction" on SCS issues, Commissioner Nathan Simington said. He advocated for greater use of shot clocks in satellite application processing and repeated his call for extending the agency's orbital debris rules to foreign-flagged operators seeking U.S. market access (see 2305220044).

Treasury is pushing states "to act as fast as possible" on spending money allocated so far from its Capital Projects Fund, fund Director Joseph Wender said. He said about $9.5 billion of the fund's $10 billion has been approved so far for broadband projects in all 50 states, with construction work underway in numerous locations. The funding must be spent by 2026's end, he said. The fund's spending ultimately will result in about 2 million households getting connected, he said.