LINCOLN- Nerves are fraying among those seeking to expand broadband service across Nebraska due to funding uncertainty caused by recent actions by the Trump Administration and the Legislature. However, a state official said he isn’t worried that the largest program, the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, enacted by the Biden Administration to bring high-speed “internet for all,” would be impacted.

Patrick Haggerty, director of the Nebraska Broadband Office, said Wednesday that his office continues to take applications for the first round of BEAD grants while it awaits “new guidance” on the distribution of those funds. Despite the cancellation Friday of a $1.25 billion “digital equity” training program by the Trump Administration, Haggerty said he has seen “no indication” that the $405 million in BEAD deployment funds sent to Nebraska is going away. On Friday, states were informed that the $1.25 billion Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program was being cancelled after President Trump labeled the program “racist and illegal” and unconstitutional.

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