BEAD was meant to expand access to high-quality broadband, but under Trump, it’s been diverted to tech moguls like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

With BEAD awards moving into the contract execution phase, a small but growing number of proposed subgrantees are deciding not to proceed. In some cases, companies are walking away voluntarily. In another, questions remain about what happened behind the scenes.

Nebraska. It’s Not for Everyone

In Nebraska, The Nebraska Examiner reported that three ISPs backed out “due to changes in their business plans.”

The three BEAD participants in the state that didn’t sign contracts appeared to be Amazon, Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company, and Pinpoint Communications.

Analysts Don Kellogg and Roger Entner discuss Roger's report, "The Half-Connected America," exploring why some people choose not to use broadband and what companies and policymakers can do to address the issue.

The Spanish government has blacklisted U.S. data analytics giant Palantir Technologies from public and private state-controlled companies due to growing concerns over the potential misuse of classified national security information.

On Sunday, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) put out its annual report and said, well, a bunch of things that I’ve been saying:

In the near term, the ongoing AI investment boom raises questions about the sustainability of the current economic expansion. The five largest hyperscalers are set to spend over a trillion US dollars on AI-related capital expenditure from 2025 through 2026. These commitments are outpacing earnings and the free cash flow of these firms, leading some to issue debt to raise additional financing.

As edifying as it is to see the bank for central banks say exactly what I’ve been saying for the last few years, this part is the one that both rocks as far as being right goes and sucks for the world at large:

Disappointment in returns could trigger a sudden pullback in financing and turn the capex boom into a protracted investment bust, with potential knock-on effects on financial conditions…should hyperscalers slow or halt the aggressive pace of capex deployment, many borrowers across the supply chain could struggle to replace lost revenue and service their debt.

No shit. In April of last year, I wrote a piece called “AI is a systemic risk to the tech industry,” where I outlined how the failure of one model lab, OpenAI, would have seismic effects down its supply chain, delivering body blow after body blow to NVIDIA, Oracle, Microsoft, and the various Neoclouds that serve its compute, the most notable of which being CoreWeave. 

Since then, OpenAI’s slimy tendrils have sunk into even more facets of the tech industry, and it has signed deals with the likes of Google, Amazon, Cerebras, and Broadcom, while also taking on more investments, including mammoth commitments from Softbank, which is only able to meet them by selling off prized stock in companies like ARM and NVIDIA, and by raising debt. 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce is the oldest standing legislative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and is vested with the broadest jurisdiction of any congressional authorizing committee.

Today the House Energy & Commerce Committee holds an oversight hearing with NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth, and as former Deputy Administrator I’m watching. With the hearing kicking off, here are some initial thoughts to help you understand what’s at stake.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 $𝟮𝟮 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. All BEAD funds, including the so-called "nondeployment funds," have already been allocated and directed to states. The $22 billion in unspent funds isn’t “savings” that reverts back to the Treasury; it’s part of the $42.5 billion spread out over accounts for each state, and the states can access that money as they meet more and more of the “Special Award Conditions” or “SACs” that govern its release. The problem with the $22 billion in remaining funding is that the SACs haven’t been set because NTIA hasn’t released the federal guidance it has promised is forthcoming. Essentially, states cannot touch the funds in their accounts without guidance from NTIA on how those funds may be used. And that guidance is very late.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲? When NTIA released its “Benefit of the Bargain” guidance last summer, it promised nondeployment guidance would follow "soon." Then it said the guidance would come in March 2026, along with additional guidance to implement the Administration’s AI Executive Order. Then March 2026 came and went. In April, Commerce Secretary Lutnick told lawmakers to expect it "over the next two months." That window has effectively expired.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀. States are in limbo, unable to plan the workforce, affordability, and digital equity programs their communities need, and without further resources to meet the tough permitting timelines that NTIA’s BEAD Terms & Conditions require. Meanwhile, ISPs have begun declining subawards in some states, underscoring the need for clarification on whether the guidance will provide additional resources for states to ensure those locations are covered by other providers.

𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁: There is an OMB rulemaking underway that could have significant implications for programs like BEAD. Some have argued it could open the door to NTIA clawing back the nondeployment funds. But this isn't just a broadband story; it's a sweeping rewrite of how federal grant dollars work across virtually every program. Comments are due July 13. If you care about the future of BEAD — or federal grants broadly — file now.

This is the people's money: $42.5 billion to connect every American, and we have no clarity on how states can spend over half of it. Congress and the public deserve accountability on when and how the nondeployment funds will finally be put to work. Today’s hearing is an opportunity to push for that accountability.

Kalamazoo County, MI brought five subject-matter experts together Thursday to help residents understand what data centers and battery energy storage systems mean for communities like theirs.

The event, held June 25 at the Dale B. Lake Auditorium on the Kalamazoo Valley Community College Texas Township campus, drew a full house. Kalamazoo County Government organized the panel and invited residents, elected officials, and local government leaders to attend.

BT will receive a payment of $625 million from Verizon as the two companies combine their subscale international businesses.

Allison Kirkby's approach to the international assets of BT, the UK telco she runs, has been rather like that of Chris Patten to Hong Kong as its last British governor – execute an orderly retreat without (hopefully) causing anyone too much upset.

After taking charge of BT in February 2024, Kirkby soon made clear she saw the UK as her strategic priority and was likely to offload any units targeting overseas business. They were combined into BT International, a new entity chiseled out of BT's other parts and offered to prospective partners like an anemic bride. Today, BT announced its marriage to an equivalent part of Verizon.

Broadband Clusters reports  on a powerful way that the federal government has had to help schools get broadband to those who are less likely to have access at home...

Every year, the federal government helps schools and libraries pay their internet bills through a program called E-Rate, part of the Universal Service Fund. In 2024, it approved $2.76 billion in discounts for 21,102 institutions across the country: 18,507 schools and school districts, and 2,595 libraries. This study matches every funded institution to Census data for the communities around it, to examine who the program serves and what those neighborhoods look like.

Each week I curate 5 links from the data center sector that I find particularly interesting, with my commentary on why they merit your attention.

Sound interesting? Subscribe and get them every Saturday.

5 Notable Data Center Links

• The State of the AI Economy - In a detailed research piece titled “The State of the AI Economy,” analyst Azeem Azhar ‘s Exponential View Substack reports that quarterly AI revenues have begun to exceed depreciation costs on investments in servers and chips. Bloomberg (subscription) called the finding “a tipping point, showing that the hundreds of billions of dollars tech companies are spending on it may be economically sustainable.” If that trend holds, it could begin to ease concerns about the extraordinary hyperscale spending on GPUs and data centers. Although revenue is growing quickly, the cost side of the equation may be a moving target...

The Supreme Court on Monday gave President Donald Trump sweeping new authority over approximately two dozen multi-member agencies that Congress intended to be independent.

By a vote of 6-3, the justices struck down a federal law that bars the president from firing members of the Federal Trade Commission except in cases of “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.” That law, a majority of the justices ruled, violates the constitutional separation of powers between the three branches of government. And in reaching that decision, the court overruled its 91-year-old decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which had upheld the law at the center of the dispute.

More broadly, Monday’s decision was a major victory for proponents of the “unitary executive” theory – the idea that the president should have complete control over the executive branch. Under this theory, the president should be able to fire any member of the executive branch, and laws – like the one that the court struck down – that restrict his ability to do so violate the separation of powers.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as expected, has published its auction plan for the satellite ‘Upper C-band’ release of 160 MHz of spectrum to be used by terrestrial operators for 5G and 6G services. (The Upper C-band is 3.98-4.14 GHz).

FCC chairman Brendan Carr announced that “the FCC will vote July 22nd to auction a large swath of prime, mid-band spectrum next summer—putting America back ahead on 5G, 6G, and next-gen connectivity.

The Federal Communications Commission wants to require telecommunications providers to collect vast amounts of personal information from every person who wants a phone number in the name of combatting scam and spam calls. This plan will fail to combat the deluge of unwanted calls people in the United States receive every day while giving untrustworthy companies a gold mine of information that would harm everyday consumer’s privacy, access to communications, and ability to speak freely. 

The requirement to provide ID and an address would completely cut off the ability to have an anonymous phone line, which would mean many people in the most precarious situations imaginable: domestic violence and human trafficking survivors, unhoused people, and children without stable homes, would not be able to gain access to a crucial lifeline. EFF, along with ACLU, has submitted comments advising the FCC to abandon this proposal entirely. 

There’s a lot to unpack from NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth’s testimony yesterday before the Energy & Commerce, Communications & Technology subcommittee. In fact, I took much of yesterday to listen to the hearing again. Which is either quite a feat or a sign of self-loathing as the hearing ran more than three hours. Covered topics in the Q&A ranged from when non-deployment guidance will be released, whether these monies are savings or state allocations, to what the “gold standard” is for BEAD coverage. 

Non-Deployment Timing

Unsurprisingly, when guidelines for non-deployment dollars was a hot topic, especially on the Democrat side of the aisle. More than once, it was noted by Representatives that both promised delivery dates (March 11 and last week) came and went.

Once again, we didn’t get a specific date as to when expect guidance, but rather another vague timeline. Specifically, Roth told the committee that “We expect to release the guidance this summer.”

Program Support Digital Navigator Model Bridging the digital divide, with holistic, individualized support.

Who are Digital Navigators?

Digital navigators are trusted guides who assist community members with ongoing, individualized support for accessing affordable and appropriate connectivity, devices, and digital skills.

Navigators can be volunteers, cross-trained existing staff, or dedicated new hires who offer guidance on connectivity, devices, and digital skills. Typically at trusted community-based organizations, digital navigators are familiar with their community’s resources that relate to digital equity, and they help residents learn to use critical online services. They recommend resources and check back with the client over time to ensure they are able to reach their goals.

There's never been an infrastructure boom like AI.

Amazon (AMZN+2.43%), Alphabet (GOOG+0.96%) (GOOGL+0.69%), Microsoft (MSFT+3.99%), and Meta Platforms (META+10.42%) are set to spend around $700 billion this year in capital expenditures this year to build out data centers to support demand for AI applications.

That's a number that significantly exceeds annual profit for the group, and Wall Street is starting to get nervous. The latest news from Micron, confirming that memory prices have soared, hasn't helped the cause.

Why the hyperscalers are spending so much

All of these companies, except for Meta Platforms, have large cloud computing businesses that can justify this kind of spending. Amazon, for example, has gone through similar cycles of capex spending across both its cloud infrastructure business, Amazon Web Services, and its e-commerce business.

Industry lobbyists have swarmed the Golden State to block new anti-monopoly reforms ahead of a vote this week.

ilicon Valley and other powerful industries have spent millions of dollars to defeat a landmark bill in California that would expand state regulations against monopolies and threaten common business practices of numerous tech giants. The Lever has uncovered that lawmakers who may cast the deciding votes on the legislation in committee have taken thousands in campaign donations from deep-pocketed corporate interests. 

From social media giants Facebook and Google to ridesharing apps like Uber, Big Tech has grown its businesses by resorting to a variety of tactics that skirt antitrust laws, such as anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions, price gouging, and pricing discrimination. Only in recent years have these firms' practices started to face legal scrutiny from federal and state regulators, including a spate of lawsuits to break up Big Tech.

Under current law, California regulators can prosecute antitrust cases only when at least two companies collude to restrain fair competition. The new legislation, now facing a crucial June 30 vote in the Judiciary Committee, would allow the state, for the first time, to begin cracking down on single firm monopolies — when one company dominates a certain industry or uses its large status to unfairly drive out competition.

The City of Memphis’ Smart Memphis Fiber project represents one of the most innovative and consequential municipal broadband initiatives in the United States. Through a creative public-private partnership model that was approved by the City in 2024, Memphis has secured citywide fiber competition (meaning residents will have more than one high-speed internet provider to choose from) and a commitment to delivering fiber service to low-income neighborhoods. In doing so, Memphis has positioned itself to become one of the most fiber-connected cities in America.

What makes Memphis’ success so remarkable is the context in which it was achieved. Memphis is a city where economic challenges are real and persistent. Yet City leaders recognized that accepting the status quo—where fiber investment flows only to areas with the highest disposable incomes—would perpetuate the challenges.

Microsoft is preparing another round of layoffs, spanning Xbox, sales and consulting, as it holds down operating costs while pouring more than $100 billion into AI infrastructure.

The Lifeline program helps low-income families stay connected. So, of course, the Trump FCC hates it.

When the sordid history of Brendan Carr’s FCC is written, you can be sure it will include the boldface names — the fights picked with Jimmy Kimmel and The View, his pressure on 60 Minutes and his cartoon avatar drowning in used kitty litter. They’ll note his sycophantic performances for Donald Trump and Elon Musk and his right-wing podcast rants.

But the rot and damage go much deeper: obliterating the agency’s independence, launching racist attacks on diversity programs, unconstitutional government censorship, and waiving through merger after merger. In Carr’s latest pitiless scheme, he’s making it even harder for the poorest among us to access basic communications.

In our news wrap Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that constitutional privacy protections apply to cellphone location data, the San Francisco Archdiocese agreed to pay $395 million to sexual abuse survivors.

The justices ruled today that constitutional privacy protections apply to cell phone location data. At issue was the police use of what's known as geofence warrants to locate all devices near the scene of a crime back in 2019. The court ruled that, even when location information is shared with companies like Google and Apple, people don't forfeit their expectations of privacy.

The case was widely viewed as a test for how privacy would be protected in this digital age.