The biggest Internet service providers will dominate a $42.45 billion broadband grant program unless the Biden administration changes a rule requiring grant recipients to obtain a letter of credit from a bank, according to a joint statement from consumer advocacy groups, local government officials, and advocates for small ISPs.

The letter sent today to US government officials argues that “by establishing capital barriers too steep for all but the best-funded ISPs, the LOC [letter-of-credit requirement] shuts out the vast majority of entities the program claims to prioritize: small and community-centered ISPs, minority and women-owned ISPs, nonprofits, and municipalities.”

The rule is part of the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program that’s being administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

  • dezmd@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Go out and try to get one as a small ISP then come back and let us know how it went.

    • TORFdot0@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I actually worked at a small ISP that served a population of <10,000 a decade ago and we had no problem getting grants the last time Obama was handing them out