Rep. Bob Latta: Ohio Needs Broadband
Lawmaker asks for insight on achieving broadband goals.
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2025 – Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, is calling on broadband companies to help support his state's deployment goals, the lawmaker said Thursday at Broadband Breakfast's Speeding BEAD summit.
When recalling first BEAD announcement by the Biden Administration, Latta said, “We did a markup, but we never did a hearing on it.”
He questioned what role the federal government had, and if federal officials were going to pick “winners and losers” to access state money.
Keynote by Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio
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Latta, who serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said some of the $42.45 billion in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program should be used for non-deployment purposes.
“We need labor and equipment,” he said.
Latta said he wants to hear from those in the broadband industry, because that is when he will acquire the background needed to represent the industry in his legislative decisions.
Latta said he benefited when people visit his office to discuss their issues.
“I can’t ask regulators the right questions if I’m not hearing from people doing the work,” he said.
Ohio has many unserved or underserved locations according to the FCC guidelines.
“We estimate that about 8 million families don’t have broadband,” Latta said, referring to the country as a whole.
Latta called for release of the BEAD money so that more of his state can have access to robust broadband.
Latta said that putting more regulations on broadband deployment slows the United States down in the “race against China.”
He added, “We risk falling behind— and there’s no second place in that race.”
Latta hopes Ohioans will be able to share their insights on broadband with him, so that the challenges that come up with future BEAD deployment can be addressed.
Latta urged his fellow Republicans to move BEAD along in their respective states.
“We need to get the money out, and we need to spend it wisely," he said.
