Cisco thinks it's prepared to take advantage of whatever direction the new President Donald Trump administration might take with the government’s various connectivity expansion initiatives, with most of that focus on the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Robin Olds, senior sales business development manager for service providers in the Americas at Cisco, explained that the vendor recently conducted a government affairs session looking at what broadband opportunities could look like under different administrations. This was somewhat helped by familiarity.

“We’ve had a Trump administration before so we kind of know what to expect,” Olds said. “Things that could perk up service provider’s ears are things like net neutrality, what's going to happen with that? What's going to happen with any kind of pole attachment issues that they're facing? And then the funding is to be determined. A lot of this is already appropriated so you really get into the politics about how do you claw back something that's already been appropriated? But could it be done? Probably, but I don't know if it will.”

The BEAD program was initiated in 2021, and was part of the federal government’s $65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The BEAD funds are targeted at expanding broadband networks to unserved and underserved areas and to provide ongoing financial support to increase access.

Olds note that the current President Joe Biden administration initially targeted those funds as “pro-fiber, but then he started opening the door up to fixed-wireless access (FWA) and satellite.”

That initial fiber focus led to a number of initiatives, including government’s “Build America Buy America” (BABA) program, which is targeted at investing funds into products and services built in the U.S. A lot of those early efforts have been on fiber-related components. Cisco, for its part, recently self-certified domestic production of components in support of that program.

The new administration is expected to take a more pointed view of other technology choices.

Analysts had previously noted that Trump during his first term was open to expansion of cellular-based broadband networks, including hints that the government should build and run its own network.

Current Federal Communications Commission Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr also recently tore into the current administration’s lack of action in translating BEAD funding into actual deployments, noting during recent testimony in front of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Accountability that in the more than 1,000 days since the BEAD program has been active, “not one person has been connected to the internet with those dollars – not one home, not one business. Indeed, not even one shovel worth of dirt has been turned with those dollars.”

There could also be heightened interest in sending more funds toward the government’s so-called “rip-and-replace” move to eliminate equipment from China-based vendors from U.S. telecommunication networks. That program has struggled to secure funding to finish many of those projects.

Cisco has been part of these initiatives.

“They didn't anticipate how many people have Huawei that actually applied for it,” Olds said, noting that the initial $1.9 billion in funds has had to be “spread like peanut butter. The service providers I talked to said they got 25% of what they asked for.”

Up to $3.2 billion in new funds have been targeted at bridging this shortfall, but that amount has yet to be approved.

“If the government wants them to finish replacing Huawei and ZTE then they need additional funding, and that's where the $3.2 billion comes from if they decide to do it,” Olds said. “In talking to our government affairs team, you constantly see the $3.2 billion get entered into the budget and then get kicked out, so it's constantly there. It's top line for Congress to take a look at, but we'll see what happens.”

Cisco bolstering its broadband plans Cisco’s Olds did add that the vendor’s national broadband efforts continue to tap into its Rural Broadband Innovation Center that the vendor opened in North Carolina in 2021. That facility provides a location for partners to work through technology and deployment options toward bridging the digital divide.

“We have talked to electrical co-ops, tribal nations, municipalities, we've even had commercial accounts where they're looking to build out broadband into their local communities and we bring them in show them our technology,” Olds said of that facility.

Olds did add that the change in administration will open up those technology choices.

“I think what we'll see under President Trump's administration is we'll probably see the opening potentially for the fixed-wireless access and for satellite to play in these broadband spaces,” Olds said, noting that those decisions could be left to the states.

Olds also added that he’s hearing BEAD-related builds could start in the second half of 2025, with an initial focus logistically being on those fiber deployments.

“Keep in mind that usually when you do a build out or a new network or building it out, fiber comes first, and that takes a year, then the equipment comes later,” Olds said.