No More Broadband Delays as State Legislators Urge DC to 'Get Out of the Way'

“The reason it took so long for BEAD to be distributed was because the maps sucked.

The FCC promulgated maps that were ridiculously incomplete,” Riggs told CNET.

“The states had to literally come along and reinvent the wheel, which was the maps.

And it takes time to do that.”

According to the letter signed by the state legislators, BEAD is going “very well.”

They point to the competitive bidding process that has resulted in plans for nearly universal coverage.

The Department of Commerce and Starlink did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Fiber providers like AT&T, on the other hand, averaged361Mbps.

(Disclosure: Ookla is owned by the same company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

“Nobody’s talking about speed and what satellites can or can’t do.

Fiber can do that today.

Fiber can do that 30 or 40 years from now.

You dig it once, you forget about it,” Rep. Riggs said.

“Just get out of the way.

Let the states do the job.”

It also found that fiber would be $15,600 cheaper for users over the same period.

Among the signatories are several Republicans from deeply red states, includingArkansas,Indiana,Missouri,NebraskaandNorth Dakota.

Their message is loud and clear: Let states decide how to proceed with BEAD.