Trump picks broadband expansion plan critic to oversee program, Bloomberg says

The Trump administration plans to nominate Arielle Roth, a critic of former President Joe Biden’s $42.5B broadband infrastructure plan, to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the arm of the Commerce Department that oversees the broadband infrastructure project as well as the federal government’s use and allocation of communications airwaves, Bloomberg’s Kelcee Griffis reports. The broadband initiative was created with the goal of extending high-speed internet service to the 25 million U.S. residents who still don’t have it, and its slow progress has come under fire from Republicans, including new FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, as well as Elon Musk, who has publicly criticized the program for disadvantaging his Starlink service. Publicly traded companies in the broadband space include Verizon (VZ), AT&T (T), T-Mobile (TMUS), CenturyLink (CTL), and ViaSat (VSAT).