Trump administration OKs Nevada broadband plan after rescinding approval

Gov. Joe Lombardo said Thursday that federal officials have approved Nevada’s plan to use the first chunk of its nearly half-billion-dollar federal award to expand high-speed internet access to about 28,000 locations across the state.

Lombardo said the state would use about $170 million under the newly approved plan to bring service to about 28,000 locations, which include homes, businesses and community organizations. He said Nevada had previously received approval for an earlier proposal aimed at bringing broadband to about 50,000 locations.

The Trump administration rescinded that earlier approval in June, weeks before construction was set to begin. The rescission came as new federal guidelines were issued last year that called for tech neutrality and required states to prioritize lower costs, changes that the AP described as likely increasing the share of BEAD contracts going to satellite internet rather than fiber.

Under the newly approved award, 64% of unserved locations in Nevada will be served by fiber, down from the 80% fiber share in the original plan. The plan also calls for 29% of unserved locations to be served by low Earth orbit satellite.

The AP reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX, through its Starlink satellite service, is the only company added to Nevada’s list of award recipients since the pause. Starlink is receiving about $2.4 million to bring broadband to roughly 2,800 locations.

Nevada is still awaiting further federal guidance on how it can use about $250 million left from the 2021 Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, which was part of a bipartisan infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden. The state said construction will not begin immediately because it still needs to sign contracts with internet providers and finalize permitting.

The AP reported that Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), one of the authors of the BEAD law, had pledged over the summer to put a hold on broadband nominees after the Trump administration revoked the initial approval. Rosen did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The approval is a key step in Nevada’s yearslong efforts to expand broadband, including in remote areas where unreliable connectivity has held back economic growth, the AP said. The state has also been funding its own broadband expansion project using more than $200 million in coronavirus relief funds that must be spent by the end of 2026, and officials said last month it had spent only about 20% of those dollars.

In a press release Thursday, the governor’s office also announced $65 million in private sector investment as part of the BEAD deployment. Lombardo said, “This is an essential investment in Nevada’s future.”