The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program has gotten off to a bumpy start. Despite the $42.5 billion of funding, not one customer has been connected since the program originated in 2021. BEAD could see a massive overhaul after Donald Trump returns to the Oval Office.

Trump’s pick for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, current commissioner Brendan Carr, has been highly critical of the program. Carr pointed out in the Wall Street Journal in October that no money had been distributed. According to Carr, BEAD reads like a wish list that includes “diversity, equity and inclusion requirements, climate-change rules, price controls, preferences for union labor, and schemes that favor government-run networks,” all of which do nothing to help close the digital divide.

Carr has previously described the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which administers BEAD, as suffering from “organizational malaise.” It wouldn’t be surprising to see the administration downsize NTIA. This would be something Trump attempted to do during his first term through Schedule F.

Joe Kane, director of broadband and spectrum policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told Fierce Telecom that he anticipates the administration will attempt to streamline the non-essential requirements of BEAD, particularly in terms of politically charged issues such as labor relations, to “try to turn the money into shovels in the ground as quickly as possible.”

The Trump administration is likely more tech-neutral than the Biden administration, which prioritized fiber for BEAD applications. Trump has a close relationship with Starlink founder Elon Musk. An NTIA under his administration would be more likely to be open to technologies such as fixed wireless to help close the digital divide.

One of the most significant sticking points with BEAD is NTIA’s attempts to mandate a low-cost plan in the $30 range, which many providers say isn’t feasible and deters many from applying for the grants. Many groups have argued that the NTIA’s actions go against congressional intent in the Infrastructure, Jobs and Investment Act that created BEAD.

Some Republican House Energy and Commerce Committee members recently sent a letter to the NTIA requesting all communications between the agency and state broadband offices regarding BEAD proposals because of the pressure. The coming administration would likely be more receptive to those calls to eliminate the price controls pushed by the NTIA.

In September, a coalition of lawmakers led by senators John Thune, R-S.D., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, criticized Vice President Kamala Harris as “broadband czar” for the Biden administration and the glacially slow implementation of BEAD.

James Erwin at Americans for Tax Reform pointed out, “The letter correctly notes how the Biden-Harris administration has constructed ‘partisan, extralegal requirements that were never envisioned by Congress and have obstructed broadband deployment.’ Through excessive mandates such as broadband rate regulation and prioritizing government-owned networks over private investment, lawmakers have charged that the Biden-Harris administration ‘has caused unnecessary delays, leaving millions of Americans unconnected.'”

Communications Daily reported before the November election that congressional Republicans hoped to rein in NTIA’s implementation of the program if the party were to win control of Capitol Hill. However, some policy experts said it may be hard to reach a consensus to make significant changes to BEAD due to the wide-ranging opinions about the program.

Time will tell what changes are ultimately made with BEAD under the Trump administration, but Americans can expect the elimination of at least some of the policies that have slowed the program’s progress.

Johnny Kampis is the director of telecom policy for the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.