Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NTIA administrator Alan Davidson pushed back against Republican criticism of his agency's rollout of a key internet access program in an interview with Axios.
Why it matters: Republicans say the agency has bungled the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, causing unnecessary delays.
- To date, NTIA said it has approved 55 of 56 initial BEAD proposals and more than $28 billion has been made available to states and territories.
This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Why are you choosing now to highlight what you call the failings of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund under the Trump administration's FCC?
It felt important to say something now about the lessons of the past because there have been questions raised about the pace of these programs.
- The truth is that we are already connecting thousands and thousands of people, we have billions of dollars out the door and awarded for even more networks to be built.
- And the reason we're doing this the way we are is because we're learning from the failings of the prior administration's FCC that are still haunting us today.
- We are dealing with literally millions of people in the field who were promised connections under RDOF and will not get those connections.
How have those failings been addressed in this administration and what lessons were learned?
It starts with better maps, right? We knew from the beginning that we needed real data about where people need service so that we're spending our money in the right places.
- We're being very careful to be data driven.
- We've got programs in place to make sure that the providers who receive money are going to be able to follow through on their commitments.
Any other major differences between the Biden Harris administration and the Trump administration when it comes to NTIA's work?
We're using all the tools in our toolkit: our Middle Mile program, we're connecting tribal communities.
- The other thing is our agencies are working together in lockstep to reach everyone in a way that we hadn't before to make sure all our programs work together and that we're not duplicating effort.
Do you feel like the pandemic propelled a lot of these programs forward?
The pandemic absolutely was a launching pad for the investments that we're following through with today.
- These are resources we probably will not get again anytime soon. So this is a historic moment.
- We are not getting tens of billions of dollars from Congress like this again, so we've designed programs that are built to get it right.
When you're out on the road and meeting with tribal communities, businesses, families across the country, are voters connecting the dots between the BEAD program and the Biden administration?
I think people are connecting the dots between these programs and the federal government helping them with something that they need in their lives.
- There's not a congressional district where people don't feel like they need better broadband.
- So when I'm outside of Washington, there is a lot of gratitude and energy for this project.
Are you concerned about heightened scrutiny from Republicans if they take the Senate or keep the House?
Some of the people today on Capitol Hill who are complaining that we are not moving fast enough a year ago were urging us to slow down.
- We're on time. We're on track to meet the big goal of connecting everybody in the country in the coming years, and we're doing it in a way that is careful with how we spend taxpayer money and learns from the lessons of the past about how to make sure we're connecting everyone.
