CHARLESTON – West Virginia’s final proposal for use of millions in federal broadband funding remains on pause as state officials review that plan and brace for changes to the program under President Donald Trump, but there is concern that the program will favor satellite over fiber broadband.

Last Friday, the Grant County Commission wrote a letter to Gov. Patrick Morrisey expressing support for fiber broadband projects – sometimes called Fiber to the Home (FTTH) – versus satellite internet services.

“After careful consideration of the region’s unique geography, social-economic needs, and long-term development goals, it is evident that FTTH provides a more sustainable, equitable, and high-performance option for our community,” wrote Grant County Commission President Kevin Hagerty and commissioners Scotty Miley and Tyson Riggleman.

In a March 28 press release, Morrisey announced that West Virginia was granted a 90-day extension to submit the state’s final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The BEAD final proposals were due on April 18. According to StateScoop, NTIA sent out notifications to states Tuesday granting the 90-day BEAD final proposal submissions. Delaware, Louisiana, and Nevada had already completed their final proposals, but Maine joined West Virginia as both sought extensions.

The NTIA approved West Virginia’s Volume II Initial Proposal for the BEAD program in April 2024, becoming one of the first three states to have their initial proposals approved. West Virginia was awarded $1.2 billion through the BEAD program in June 2023, funding made possible through the passage of the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act which was signed into law in 2021 by former President Joe Biden and negotiated by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and former senator Joe Manchin.

“That’s going to be a significant investment in West Virginia,” said Morrisey, speaking during a Wednesday press conference at Wheeling’s Independence Hall celebrating his first 100 days in office. “We have resources that have been set aside for that, and now we have to work to get the right policies, and we’re going to do that. It’s going to lead to a lot of terrific things for the Mountain State.”

Morrisey said the request for an extension came following conversations between the governor and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick about changes being considered for the program.

“A few weeks ago, I met with the Commerce Secretary. We talked about the importance of broadband for West Virginia,” Morrisey said. “I don’t need to make the case to you guys how critical it is that all West Virginians are going to have better access to broadband. The Trump administration, they came in and they want to do things that I think help save taxpayer dollars and provide technology-neutral approaches to broadband. We want to work with them.

“We were getting ready to submit our old application, and now we’re redoing it in an effort to work collaboratively with the Trump administration,” Morrisey continued.

Earlier in March, ProPublica reported that BEAD Director Evan Feinman left the program. In a letter to BEAD staff, Feinman raised concerns that the changes being considered to the BEAD program by the Trump administration could harm the goal of last-mile access to broadband.

“The new administration seems to want to make changes that ignore the clear direction laid out by Congress, reduce the number of American homes and businesses that get fiber connections, and increase the number of satellite connections,” Feinman wrote. “The degree of that shift remains unknown, but regardless of size, it will be a disservice to rural and small-town America.”

Feinman focused his concerns on Starlink, a satellite internet company owned by billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who also serves as an advisor to Trump with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Starlink uses a network of low-orbit satellites. Feinman said it was inappropriate for the BEAD program to make changes to benefit Musk.

“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Feinman said. “People who care about the future of rural America, and their representatives, need to speak up while these things can still be changed, and the worst version of these changes can be avoided.”

In their letter, the Grant County Commission said changes to BEAD should not focus on Starlink or other satellite internet carriers over connecting homes and businesses to fiber broadband.

“Starlink is currently available and if the residents of Grant County wanted Starlink they could purchase it at any time,” the commissioners wrote. “Also, fiber is a more affordable solution for the Grant County residents, and with better technical support from our local internet service providers. From our experience, you cannot talk to technical support when asking for help from Starlink.”

The Grant County Commission also raised issues with use of satellite internet so close to the National Radio Quiet Zone, a region set aside to limit interface with the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, W.Va.

“Grant County is also very close to the National Radio Quiet Zone,” the commissioners wrote. “We are concerned about the increase of Starlink satellites and what impact that could have on the quiet zone.”

Bill Bissett, chairman of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council, said in a phone interview Tuesday that the council has no opposition to use of satellite internet to fill in the gaps in underserved and unserved West Virginians. But with the state’s rural terrain, fiber remains the best option for residents, businesses, and any data centers considering West Virginia as an ideal location.

“The position of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council…has always been and continues to be that fiber is the best deployment of broadband,” Bissett said. “It has the longest life, it sends the most information by far, and it is also what is needed if you’re putting data centers in West Virginia, manufacturers, or other large media users.”

A request for comment to the Department of Commerce and Kelly Workman, the director of the Office of Broadband for the newly-renamed Division of Economic Development, was not returned. But Bissett said that while it was natural for new administrations to conduct reviews of programs, he hopes the BEAD review will not slow down implementation of high-speed broadband across the state.

“The decision before our governor right now – and also in working with Secretary Lutnick and the federal government – is how will this change and, if so, in what manner,” Bissett said. “Combined with the delay, this is all very concerning, but that is also the nature of new administrations in Charleston in Washington.

“We understand that these new chief executives don’t want to rubber-stamp decisions made by their predecessor, but at the same time, every day we delay is another day that underserved unserved West Virginia’s don’t have access to this critical resource,” Bissett continued.