New federal regulations delay high-speed internet in rural Delaware

New regulations imposed in early June by the Trump administration will likely put more than $100 million in Delaware broadband expansion funding out of reach for at least six months. 

The move will stall the implementation of new fiber optic wires in the state’s most rural areas in Kent and Sussex counties – a project that was expected to begin in June. 

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a $42 billion federal initiative, is aimed at connecting all Americans to broadband internet. All 50 states and territories are entitled to funding, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). 

Among the last actions of the Biden-Harris Administration was to approve Delaware’s “final proposal” for the broadband funding, making the state one of only three in the country to achieve final approval status.  

In retroactively revoking those approvals, the Trump administration said its new regulations would “ensure American taxpayers obtain the greatest value for their broadband investment.”

“Instead of ensuring the swift and efficient use of these funds, the Biden Administration imposed significant non-statutory burdens and red tape that increased taxpayer costs, limited marketplace competition, and diverted resources away from actual deployment,” the National Telecommunications and Information Administration said in a policy notice.

In the new regulations, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration told states it would not require them to redo their entire application process. Instead, the new rules remove application sections like climate change requirements and contracting requirements with minority and women-owned businesses. 

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Fiber optics or ‘technology neutral’?

Delaware first announced in January that it received approval from the NTIA for a $17.4 million expansion to broadband development in all three counties. 

A press release announcing the award would fund high-speed internet for 5,721 homes, almost entirely in Kent and Sussex counties. Construction was expected to begin in June and be complete by the end of 2027. 

Christina Dirksen, a spokeswoman for Delaware’s Department of Technology and Information, said the state had also received $5 million from the BEAD programming for planning and to “improve GIS and mapping data.”

Under the new regulations, Dirksen said the new policy regulations could delay construction on broadband expansion until early 2026. 

“As one of the nation’s most connected states, Delaware understands that equitable broadband access is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity for full participation in the modern economy, education, healthcare, and civic life,” Dirksen said in an email. 

The BEAD program, which was created in late 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, funds state efforts to deploy or upgrade internet networks. 

According to a press release, remaining funds from infrastructure upgrades could be used to increase cybersecurity protections, expand “digital governance” and fund tech workforce development.

Dirksen also said Delaware has connected more than 7,000 homes to broadband using American Rescue Plan Act funds, better known as ARPA. Mapping from the Delaware Department of Technology and Information shows many of those homes were in Kent and western Sussex counties, mainly rural areas.

She added the new regulations require the state to redo a “significant portion of the work,” which had been done over several years, on a 90-day timeline imposed by the federal government to resubmit the application. 

“The team at the Broadband Office is working around the clock to meet the new program requirements and preserve this critical opportunity to further close our state’s digital divide,” Dirksen said. 

Should the state be timely in its application, the federal government would have 90 days to review and reapprove the application. 

Dirksen told Spotlight Delaware that the state initially intended to connect all of the projects being funded with fiber optic wires, often considered to be the quickest and best form of internet. 

Yet under the new regulations, she said, the administration is seeking a “technology-neutral” approach to installation focused on the “lowest cost” option. 

She added there are statutory requirements for the speed, latency and scalability of the projects, which she said the state will focus on to “ensure Delawareans get the best available connections.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission, 98.48% of homes in Delaware have access to high-speed internet, placing it as the eighth highest state or territory. 

Delaware Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester and a coalition of 14 other senators threatened to block nominations to the Department of Commerce, unless the Trump administration resumes the BEAD funding.

According to Blunt Rochester’s release, the revocation of Delaware’s final approval “forces all states to redo burdensome steps in their processes, hindering states’ ability to connect communities to high-speed internet.”

“Until states receive the entire amount of BEAD funds they are owed, including nondeployment funds, we will not consent to expedited consideration of any related Commerce Department nominees on the Senate floor,” the more than a dozen senators said in a release.