What began in 2021 as part of an infrastructure bill is now a glaring signifier of bureaucracy, red tape, and broken promises. The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program (BEAD) was established to bridge the digital divide between those in America who have access to fast, reliable internet and those who do not. Today, the BEAD program has yet to connect any locations to broadband. Its lack of success is drawing attention from unlikely circles to the foolishness of tying taxpayer dollars to copious requirements that cripple American connectivity.

BEAD is structured in a multi-step approval process that includes states submitting proposals for approval by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to approve. Currently, four states have received final approval for completing the BEAD process: Louisiana, Delaware, Nevada, and most recently, West Virginia.

The remaining forty-six are still navigating a regulatory obstacle course that is daunting to even seasoned broadband experts as they await final approval. The four that have solved the “BEAD rubik’s cube” have little to show for it. Shovels have not broken ground and the digital divide continues to loom.

Communities eager for connection, or at the very least updates, are left in the dark as minimal information or timelines are readily available. In an effort to untangle some of the mess of the last four years, the new administration temporarily paused BEAD funding, unpaused it, and is now conducting a rigorous review and possible restructuring of the requirements of the program. The newest iteration of BEAD will likely drop some of the restrictions that made the original one so cumbersome. For example, there is a growing push to reject the fiber preference and instead use the internet technology best suited for the location being served, an approach known as “tech neutrality.”

As the BEAD approval process haltingly marches on, even those unaffected by the digital divide are growing frustrated. In a recent interview with Ezra Klein, comedian Jon Stewart could not contain his shock and dismay at the bureaucratic bloat involved with BEAD. Later, Elon Musk reshared the video of Stewart’s reaction with a prescription to bring down the “mountain of regulations.”

Stewart’s reaction was appropriate. Sound policy does not consist of red tape and hoops to jump through. The digital divide is closer to a chasm, with roughly 24 million Americans without access to high speed internet. Lasting solutions will require innovation, an honest assessment of the needs of each area, and the kind of transparency that promotes efficiency.