WASHINGTON, April 4, 2025 – West Virginia is “looking closely” at making more opportunities for non-fiber projects amid a rework of its Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program spending plan, the state’s governor said Thursday.
“We are looking closely at the different ideas we’ve heard talked about,” West Virginia Patrick Morrisey (R) said, like being “technology neutral, having more opportunities for different types of technology that can bring broadband to our citizens. And we’re very open in that process.”
The state got a 90-day extension on its deadline to submit a list of selected projects with the $1.2 billion it was allocated to expand broadband infrastructure.
That document was originally due April 18, but the extra time was allotted after Morrisey met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick last week.
“After that conversation, we saw that there are going to be some changes to how the Trump administration is rolling out the BEAD program,” Morrisey said at a press conference Thursday. “I think they’re well intentioned. They’re trying to do a lot of positive things, and it’ll be different from the Biden administration.”
He didn’t offer specifics on what the conversation entailed, but the Trump administration has said it’s looking to change the program’s preference for fiber. It’s not yet clear how significantly the program’s spending will be shifted away from fiber and toward technologies like satellite and fixed wireless.
West Virginia apparently felt its project selections under the Biden administration rules wouldn’t have passed muster, but the state hasn’t publicly called for ISPs to resubmit grant applications.
“It would have been foolish to submit something that’s going to get rejected, right?” Morrisey said.
Three states were approved to build
Three states – Louisiana, Delaware and Nevada – received approval on their spending plans under the Biden administration, but the money’s been held up by a grant manager review since President Donald Trump took office. Most states have at least started the process of fielding grant applications under the current rules.
Those do allow states to fund non-fiber projects if fiber would be too expensive – something states for now can decide themselves – or if no fiber providers are interested, but qualifying fiber bids get priority over fixed wireless or satellite. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and close adviser to the president, owns the satellite ISP Starlink, a division of his SpaceX rocket company.
Other states have been less receptive to the idea of sweeping changes. Minnesota broadband director Bree Maki urged Lutnick to make any changes optional for states, and her counterpart in Maine, Andrew Butcher, penned a letter to Lutnick emphasizing the importance of state expertise.
A bipartisan group of more than 100 state legislators also wrote to Lutnick Thursday cautioning against major changes, which they said could delay the work by more than a year.
Lawmakers are set to vote on whether to confirm Arielle Roth, Trump’s pick to head the Commerce agency that manages BEAD, on April 9. She has been critical of BEAD’s fiber preference in the past, but was noncommittal on questions about the program’s future in her confirmation hearing.
