Trump administration’s efforts to rescind $700 million of the $1.2 billion in broadband expansion grants allocated to Mississippi through Biden’s BEAD program diminishes opportunity in the state.
Media Contact: Oleta Fitzgerald, OFitzgerald@childrensdefense.org, CDF-Southern Regional Office Executive Director; John Henry, JHenry@childrensdefense.org, CDF Media Relations Manager, @johnhenrydc, 708-646-7679
JACKSON, MS–Access to reliable, affordable internet services is essential for the education, health care, and economic success of rural Mississippi families. Yet Children’s Defense Fund’s Southern Regional Office and the Mississippi Broadband Equity Coalition raise new questions about whether the full level of federal broadband investment promised to Mississippi communities and families will be received.
“These dollars represent real opportunity for Mississippi communities and rural areas across the South,” said Director of Children’s Defense Fund-Southern Regional Office, Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald. “When they are not fully used or left on the table, it means fewer opportunities for our children, especially when technology is driving education and future economies. We have seen this pattern before where resources made available to help struggling families and communities get pulled away to benefit those who are politically connected. They do not need this kind of taxpayer funded grant program to increase their bottom lines. This raises serious questions about how federal investments are being prioritized and managed and why our elected officials are not fighting to keep these resources for the greater benefit of their constituents.”
Mississippi communities and families deserve clear answers and a real plan for how their tax dollars are being spent. We call on Governor Reeves to provide:
- A clear public accounting of Mississippi’s full broadband allocation, including any changes to expected funding and priority for the technology deployed.
- Transparency on how federal eligibility updates impacted which Mississippi communities qualify for support.
- A clear plan and timeline for deploying the $700 million of the $1.2 billion to expand broadband access that is reliable over the long term.
- A commitment to public engagement, prioritizing fiber infrastructure and ensuring affordable high quality internet access for all communities consistent with the original intent of the program.
Mississippi communities have engaged in years of planning leading up to this moment and what happens next will determine whether those efforts result in real access.
“Approval of state plans is apparently not enough,” Fitzgerald said. “Mississippi families need results. The $1.2 billion in approved grant funding must be fully used to deliver real, reliable access through fiber, and there must be accountability to ensure taxpayer dollars are prioritized to help those in need and not continue to pad the pockets of the politically influential who are definitely not the needy.”
Background
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, created under the Biden Administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, initially allocated more than $1.2 billion toward the expansion of broadband internet access in Mississippi. The program is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees state plans and sets the rules for how funds can be used. In Mississippi, Governor Tate Reeves’ administration deploys taxpayers’ BEAD grant funding for broadband expansion through the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi Office (BEAM).
After an intensive state-led process to identify underserved areas in Mississippi in need of internet access, recent action by the Trump Administration to update broadband maps, program guidance, and approval requirements from the NTIA have changed how eligibility is determined and how quickly states can move forward with broadband expansion.
These changes affect the priority use of quality broadband infrastructure through fiber cable, placing a premium on the use of satellite broadband across the United States. The Trump Administration is now also prioritizing “tech neutral” policies and regulations over the usage of fiber cable, while deemphasizing focus on affordability. Community Networks argues this will steer money to slower, more congested satellite broadband networks owned by the president’s biggest donors.
Once again, this means the tax dollars of hardworking small businesses and families will not fully be used to support the technology service that is generally deemed most reliable for speed and latency and less likely to be impacted by weather disruption, lower bandwidth, and terrain.
These changes impact timelines and funding expectations. Approximately $508 million of the state’s $1.2 billion allocation is expected to support broadband expansion to more than 93,000 homes, alongside $321 million in private investment from Internet Service Providers participating in the BEAM expansion program, according to Mississippi Public Broadcasting. There is currently no clear plan specifying how to use $700 million of the allocation for expanding broadband access in the state.
Although Mississippi had received federal approval to move forward with the expansion project, there has been limited public clarity on how these new federal mapping updates and program requirements have changed, which communities qualify for funding, and how much of the state’s allocation can be used. There is also little clarity on what this means for rural communities that still lack reliable internet access.