National Association of Towns & Townships

NATaT Joins Coalition Urging Alternatives to BEAD Broadband Grant Letter of Credit Requirement

NATaT and several of its state associations have joined a coalition of almost 300 broadband experts, internet service providers (ISPs), community leaders, nonprofits, consumer advocates, and business groups to highlight concerns about the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. In a letter to Commerce Department leadership, the group warns that the program’s letter of credit requirement will block the vast majority of smaller operators, community-centered ISPs, and local government-owned networks from securing grants, and the group offers several alternatives to that requirement.