Response to Secretary Lutnick Statement on BEAD (March 5, 2025)

“All Americans deserve fiber for their critical broadband infrastructure. Fiber optics provides significantly better performance on every metric, such as broadband speeds, capacity, lowest latency and jitter, highest resiliency, sustainability, and provides the maximum benefit for economic development and is required for AI, Quantum Networking, smart grid modernization, public safety, 5G, and the future of mobile wireless communications. Further, fiber broadband not only provides the American consumer with the highest performance future-proof broadband service, fiber delivers the lowest cost per megabit per second of any access technology. Anything less is a disservice to any American home or business that is left behind. The private sector has recognized the accretive value of fiber broadband and is investing its private capital in fiber as value, future-proof performance, and return on investment are paramount. Dr. Chris Ali, Penn State, claims, “Broadband is about people and when it’s not, it’s about politics.” We urge our policymakers to do what’s right for people and to not penalize Americans for where they live or their current income levels.” –Gary Bolton, President & CEO, Fiber Broadband Association