ORLANDO -- BEAD projects face an array of potential complications and hurdles, from unanticipated rising costs to persistent problems of underserved locations being left out, speakers said this week at the annual Broadband Nation Expo. Like previous subsidized broadband deployment programs, BEAD projects will inevitably face inflation of labor and supply chain costs, WISPA President David Zumwalt said Tuesday. He said that could be a challenge for operators in their BEAD deployment plans, as there's not an escalator in the program's funding.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the agency could look at driving “inefficiencies” out of the USF program and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth clarified the agency’s focus for the BEAD program in separate Q&As onstage Tuesday at NTCA’s Telecom Executive Policy Summit. NTIA rules restricting the broadband funding that BEAD participants can receive are aimed at preventing bids that rely on “speculative, hypothetical funding” to complete their obligations and at avoiding defaults, Roth said. NTIA said Tuesday that it approved 18 state BEAD proposals (see 2511180007).

The House Communications Subcommittee on Tuesday advanced a new version of the American Broadband Deployment Act (HR-2289) that combined language from 22 GOP-led connectivity permitting bills originally slated for the markup session (see 2511170048). However, the subpanel’s party-line 16-12 vote on the package reflected Democrats’ ongoing opposition. The House Commerce Committee during the last Congress similarly divided along party lines on a previous version of the broadband package, which never reached the floor amid strong Democratic resistance (see 2305230067).

The FCC could soon look at strengthening broadcast affiliate stations’ right to preempt network programming, Chairman Brendan Carr told a group of reporters outside an NTCA event Tuesday. In a press conference the same day, President Donald Trump suggested that Carr should take action against ABC.

The U.S. Supreme Court appears more likely than not to grant cert to Verizon in its challenge of a September decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit upholding a $46.9 million fine against the carrier for violating FCC data rules (see 2509100019), experts said. They also agreed that SCOTUS is often difficult to predict. In August, the D.C. Circuit upheld a similar fine against T-Mobile (see 2508150044), while the 5th Circuit earlier rejected a fine imposed on AT&T (see 2504180001).

The House Communications Subcommittee plans a markup session Tuesday on a set of 28 largely GOP-led broadband permitting bills, the Commerce Committee said Friday night. House Communications members traded partisan barbs during a September hearing on the measures, with Democrats saying that most of them were unlikely to be effective in speeding up connectivity buildout (see 2509180069). Tuesday's meeting will begin at 10:15 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.

Sinclair has purchased an 8.2% stake in E.W. Scripps as part of an effort to buy the entire company, Sinclair told the SEC in a filing Monday.

ORLANDO -- This year has already seen multiple blockbuster mergers and acquisitions in telecom, and the relatively modest levels of BEAD-related consolidation should start to heat up in 2026, said Jonathan Adelstein, TWN Communications' chief strategy and external affairs officer, at the annual Broadband Nation Expo on Monday. Pointing to such activity as Verizon/Frontier, AT&T/Lumen and regional deals, the former Wireless Infrastructure Association CEO said mobile network operators are interested in fiber. The state of BEAD had been unclear going into 2025, but now the rules seem set, and BEAD activity is picking up, he added.

FCC commissioners are expected to approve an NPRM Thursday to seek comment on rules for an upper C-band auction, most likely with a few tweaks from the draft notice that Chairman Brendan Carr circulated (see 2510290047), industry officials said Monday. The FCC has heard from various parties asking for questions to be added.

The FCC received mostly support for a proposal to allow correctional facilities to jam cell signals, with an eye on curbing contraband phones, according to comments filed during the federal government shutdown. Wireless carriers have long opposed jamming but haven't filed comments. The FCC unanimously approved a further NPRM in September, with Commissioner Anna Gomez calling on the agency to move cautiously as it revisits the issue (see 2509300063).