Of all the fucked-up things the Trump administration is doing, this doesn't rank in the top FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair) category. But it sure bugs me big-time, because I dearly want more broadband options available in Oregon as soon as possible.
I speak as someone who has precisely one viable broadband service available to my wife and me out here in rural south Salem, Oregon: Starlink. I've been a Starlink customer since a beta invitation came my way in January 2021.
Starlink is way better than the dreadfully slow CenturyLink DSL we suffered with for many years of 6-7 Mbps download and 1-2 Mbps upload speeds. As I write this, Starlink is functioning at 257 Mbps download and 29 Mbps upload.
That's really good for satellite internet. But the cost is $120 a month, and the speed is still considerably less than what a fiber optic connection offers. So I've been avidly following the slow progress Oregon is making toward awarding grants to expand broadband access through the Biden administration's $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
I'm doing this by periodically talking with regional staff in the Oregon Broadband Office, and signing up for email BEAD updates through that office. Exactly zero BEAD grants have been awarded in Oregon so far, but until recently it looked like this was about to change.
Then the Trump administration changed the rules of the BEAD game. On June 10 this email from the Oregon Broadband Office appeared in my inbox.
Dear BEAD Participant,
In response to new federal guidance issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on June 6, 2025, the Oregon Broadband Office is reopening the BEAD Prequalification Application for new applicants. This will be open from June 10, 2025, and is tentatively scheduled to close July 10, 2025, at 5:00 pm PT. If you are already a prequalified applicant, no action is needed.
Why the Prequalification Application Is Reopening
The Prequalification reopening is in direct response to updated federal guidance outlined in The Benefit of the Bargain Round (Subgrantee Selection) section of NTIA’s June 6, 2025, BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice.
To comply with this new policy and to maximize participation in Oregon’s BEAD program, we are reopening the Prequalification Application for new applicants.
How to Apply
If you are a new applicant, you may now access and submit the Prequalification Application. A new Prequalification application Guide Addendum is available to assist your application.
Guidance materials, application instructions, and eligibility requirements are available on our Subgrantee Support webpage:
Again, if you have already submitted a Prequalification Application, no further action is required at this stage.
Stay Informed
We strongly encourage you to review the full NTIA guidance here:
NTIA BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice (PDF)
NTIA Fact Sheet: Ending Biden’s Broadband Burdens
Thank you for your flexibility, commitment, and continued engagement as we adapt Oregon’s BEAD program to align with updated federal expectations.
Ugh. I felt sorry for the BEAD participants who have to reapply for a grant because the Trump administration wants to end "Biden's Broadband Burdens." (Sounds like someone loves "B" alliteration, since the major Trump legislation is called the Big Beautiful Bill.)
Previously BEAD was tilted toward expanding fiber optic networks to underserved areas such as our neighborhood. This made sense to me. Fast low-latency satellite internet through Starlink already is available everywhere in the United States, albeit at a spendy price: $120/month usually, $90/month in areas without a lot of Starlink subscribers.
Now, the BEAD program is being made technology neutral, which I think is a step backward -- though I'm sure Elon Musk is happy, as Starlink is a cash cow for his Space X company. A story about the BEAD changes in RCRWirelessNews says:
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick categorized the updated rules as “new direction for the BEAD program that will deliver high-speed internet access efficiently on a technology-neutral basis, and at the right price.”
Lutnik posted on X, formerly Twitter, complaining about the slow progress and high cost of BEAD projects and saying that the new rules fix those things: “Look at Alaska: Washington approved a $33 million grant (plus a required $11 million match) to run fiber to just 211 homes and five businesses. That equals over $204,000 per address and the work hasn’t even started. Fixed-wireless or satellite would have done the job faster and cheaper. We’re ending this nonsense. Every BEAD dollar will be deployed this year, but we will be technology-agnostic: fiber, fixed-wireless, and satellite.”
This will sound fine to most people, but not to me. Like I said, Starlink works well if you want to spend $600 or so on equipment and $120 a month for the typical ongoing residential fee. I'd still much prefer fiber optic. Other people agree, as evidenced by frequent comments I've seen on Starlink discussion pages on Facebook where someone will say fiber optic has come to their area and they're ditching Starlink.
We can't get fixed wireless at our house because we live in a cellular dead spot with no direct line of sight to the nearest cell phone towers. (Verizon gave us a range extender that plugs into our Starlink router when I complained about only having one bar inside our house.) So I'll be happy if the revised BEAD program is able to bring a better fixed wireless broadband option to our neighborhood.
Again, though, I'd much prefer fiber optic. I suspect that given the new BEAD rules, that isn't going to happen in our area, even though there's a fiber optic line that ends several miles from our neighborhood. My fear is that the Trump administration is going to prioritize Starlink as the best option for rural areas, even though Starlink requires a clear view of the sky, is more expensive than fiber optic, and has some reliability issues (good news is, it's much more reliable than it used to be).
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