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GAO issues broadband program to-dos for FCC, NTIA The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report this week assessing federal broadband programs and releasing specific recommenda ons for the NTIA and FCC. The report was conducted as mandated by a statute included in House Report 118-124 requiring GAO to "review the efficacy of recent federal broadband programs." As such, GAO said it examined "selected agencies' progress in deploying broadband, their approaches to targe ng underserved areas, and NTIA's efforts to encourage sustainability in its BEAD program, among other things." The GAO focused its a en on on four federal agencies (NTIA, FCC, Treasury and USDA) in charge of administering nine programs, including BEAD, all of which began distribu ng funding as of February 2026. (See the chart below for the specific programs GAO assessed, excluding USDA programs "because expected comple on dates vary by funding round," according to the report.) GAO recommenda ons for FCC The report's recommenda ons essen ally fell into two main buckets, with one focused on the FCC's na onal broadband map – which dictates where broadband access does and does not exist in the country – and specifically the challenge process involved in addressing map inaccuracies. "Some program par cipants and stakeholders said this challenge process was burdensome and unclear. For example, challenging a large number of loca ons in an area could be difficult for smaller communi es and providers with limited resources," GAO wrote in its report. "Without targeted outreach to smaller communi es and providers to address such difficul es, FCC may not be able to obtain the most accurate informa on about broadband availability and therefore may not be able to effec vely iden fy and target funding to underserved areas." The report also highlighted concerns around service providers defaul ng on their federal broadband awards and how those defaults can result in certain areas remaining underserved. "Agencies have taken some steps to address these poten al service gaps. However, concerns remain that some unserved areas affected by defaults will remain unserved," GAO stressed. The report acknowledged the complex communica on needed amongst agencies and stakeholders to keep federal broadband data up to date in order to not impede progress amongst programs. "In par cular, the accuracy and meliness of project loca on data shared by the agencies and reported by FCC in its maps must be con nuously maintained as programs offer new funding opportuni es to con nue to fill the underserved areas in those maps. The accuracy of FCC's maps depends, in part, on stakeholders' ability to submit challenges to inaccuracies in the maps' underlying data. However, this check is not effec ve if stakeholders with necessary informa on choose not to par cipate due to hurdles in submi ng such challenges," wrote GAO. As such, GAO said that the "Chair of FCC should conduct targeted outreach to smaller par cipants (such as local and tribal governments and providers), to iden fy and address difficul es they have experienced comple ng the bulk Broadband Data Collec on challenge process." GAO recs for NTIA The GAO's report also honed in on the $42.5 billion BEAD program. The NTIA recently announced it issued approval for final BEAD proposals for all 56 states and territories, with Illinois coming in last, and with roughly $21 billion going toward deployment. The agency is expected to release guidance on how states can use $21 billion in "non-deployment funding" before the end of summer ( ck, tock, by the way). In terms of BEAD, the GAO focused its concerns and recommenda ons on ensuring the financial stability of providers deploying networks in high-cost areas. "In October 2025, NTIA announced a requirement that BEAD providers cer fy that they will not accept federal funding from other sources for broadband deployment and opera ons costs for loca ons funded by BEAD for at least 10 years. This provision is intended to ensure that BEAD projects are financially self- sustainable without addi onal federal funding. NTIA's BEAD documenta on for states and territories states that there may be a basis for them to request certain data from providers. However, NTIA did not detail the circumstances that could warrant such a request," wrote GAO. Thus, GAO's concerns are that the states may not have access to the informa on necessary to become aware if a provider's network is at risk. "As one of the largest of the broadband programs we reviewed, BEAD holds great poten al to help close the digital divide. But BEAD also faces risks if the program does not take addi onal steps to support its commitment to financial sustainability. In par cular, NTIA risks that some projects may falter in the future before the state could poten ally flag concerns and work with providers to prevent a possible service lapse for consumers using a BEAD- funded network," wrote GAO. In turn, the report suggested that the NTIA administrator "should provide informa on to NTIA's partner states and territories on when and why to request addi onal informa on from BEAD subrecipients, to monitor and support their ability to remain financially sustainable in offering affordable broadband during the 10-year federal interest period." According to the report, both the FCC and NTIA have "agreed with these recommenda ons," and the GAO will track progress on the status of those open recommenda ons here. Ar cle Credit: h ps://www.lightreading.com/broadband/gao- issues-broadband-program-to-dos-for-fcc-n a Talleycom.com You Connect the World. We Make it Easy. ® 10 QUARTER 3 2026 SHEET®

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