News
A Trump-backing CEO from North Louisiana has penned an open letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick pleading for BEAD to move forward.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
North Louisiana is ready, but why isn’t Washington?
That’s the question asked by SkyRider Communications CEO Brad Warden in a new open letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
The letter, dated April 16, voices concerns about recent delays to the government’s $42.5 billion effort to deploy broadband to all Americans.
The massive undertaking, funded by the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, was first created under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in 2021.
Louisiana, Warden’s home state, became the first state to gain approval for their initial BEAD proposal.
In 2024, it also became the first to award BEAD funds, through a state program called GUMBO 2.0 (Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities).
In the letter to Lutnick, Warden writes that his company was awarded a $5.9 million BEAD grant.
The grant requires a match of $1.9 million “that we are prepared to do,” Warden says.
Warden writes that the matching funds represent a considerable amount of money for SkyRider.
“Louisiana was finally first at something. NTIA approval. Louisiana, through its ConnectLA program ran a very complex bid program. Awards for areas were made. We were expecting to sign our grant agreement with the state on March 1. Now we wait.”
He says his company has added staff in anticipation of the BEAD project. SkyRider has also already made significant investment in the effort to date, he highlights.
“We were expecting to sign our grant agreement with the state on March 1,” Warden wrote. “Now we wait.”
‘I am a Trump supporter’
According to Warden, H.R.1870, also known as the SPEED for BEAD Act, “needs a new name because it has only slowed things down.”
“You mentioned DEI in an article,” Warden’s letter states. “That we needed to get rid of that. We in North Louisiana do not even know how to spell DEI.”
Warden wrote that he “did not see anything in the grant documents referencing DEI,” the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“I am a Trump supporter,” Warden goes on to write. “I love what he is doing and thank God he is in office to straighten out the mess in Washington DC.”
Warden says he cannot imagine how busy Lutnick is with tariff negotiations, but he says BEAD needs to move forward.
“Especially for Louisiana,” he says.
Warden tells Lutnick that he if wants to make changes to BEAD “then please do it.”
He argues that time delays could have a negative impact.
Warden also warns that many states conducting awards simultaneously could impact the price paid for contractors and materials.
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