Information
One other Louisiana CEO is asking on Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to handle BEAD delays and reaffirm a strategic dedication to fibre
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Days after the CEO of Louisiana-based SkyRider Communications penned an open letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick pleading for BEAD to maneuver ahead, one other Louisiana CEO has voiced an identical name.
In a brand new letter given to Broadband Communities right now, David Herring, the founder and CEO of ClearPath Fiber, stated the monetary danger to his firm is rising “every day federal steerage is delayed or revised.”
Now, Herring says ClearPath “can’t proceed this work.”
Click on right here to learn Herring’s full letter to Lutnick
“Not as a result of we aren’t prepared,” he writes within the letter, dated April 23, “however as a result of delays and uncertainty are costing us every little thing.”
In line with Broadband Breakfast, ClearPath was awarded over $34.5 million in Louisiana’s BEAD subgrantee choice.
The cash will fund ClearPath’s efforts to succeed in properly over 7,300 broadband serviceable areas, the information exhibits.
Herring’s letter describes ClearPath as “a small, mission-driven startup.”
“We took daring dangers, constructed infrastructure from the bottom up, and partnered with producers, contractors, and engineers to serve rural and underserved Individuals,” Herring writes.
In line with Herring, as soon as assured buyers at the moment are backing away because of the delays with BEAD, the nation’s large $42.45 billion effort to deploy broadband to all Individuals as a part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation in 2021.
Howard Lutnick (centre) stands with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance in Feb. 2025. YouTube screenshot
This system, which stands for Broadband Fairness, Entry, and Deployment, has been topic of an ongoing overview by Lutnick.
Herring writes that day by day of uncertainty is costing jobs.
“We believed on this nation’s future and in your administration’s guarantees to place Individuals to work,” the letter reads. “Primarily based on these commitments, we’ve invested actual cash, secured native assist, and laid the groundwork for transformative broadband deployment.”
“Now, we’re watching that progress stall,” Herring writes.
‘Let Louisiana transfer ahead’
Herring additionally urges Lutnick to recognise “what’s occurring on the bottom in Louisiana.”
“Our state has achieved every little thing proper,” he says, including that Louisiana has adopted a tech-neutral strategy that doesn’t contain DEI insurance policies.
Herring goes on to say that Louisiana is prepared.
“Not subsequent yr. Not after one other spherical of revisions. We might be within the floor subsequent week,” he writes. “So why are we being held again?”
The letter concludes with Herring urging Lutnick to cease delaying BEAD.
Herring additionally calls on Lutnick to “reaffirm fiber as the inspiration of our nationwide broadband technique” and “assist Louisiana’s readiness to guide.”
“Let Louisiana transfer ahead,” he says. “Allow us to prepared the ground — the appropriate means, proper now. As a result of there’s no profit in holding again those that are prepared, keen, and ready.”
Notably, Louisiana has been a frontrunner within the BEAD Program.
In 2024, Louisiana grew to become the primary to award BEAD funds, via a state program known as GUMBO 2.0 (Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Alternatives).
It was additionally the primary state to achieve approval for his or her preliminary BEAD proposal.
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