The Divide: Shirley Bloomfield on rural broadband progress, BEAD's 'bargain' and USF
From Light Reading Podcasts by Light Reading
February 3, 2026 · 28 min · Season 6
About this episode
Shirley Bloomfield discusses rural broadband progress and the implications of BEAD and USF.
As she prepares to retire as CEO of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, Shirley Bloomfield joins us to discuss progress on connecting the rural US, how BEAD changes will impact those communities, and the need to preserve USF. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Light Reading
Guest: Shirley Bloomfield
Topics covered
- rural broadband
- technology policy
- USF preservation
- BEAD impact
- digital divide
Keywords
- rural broadband
- Shirley Bloomfield
- NTCA
- BEAD
- USF
- digital divide
- technology
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, BEAD, USF
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- The Divide: Blair Levin on 30 years of the Telecom Act and what must come next · April 15, 2026 · 35 min
- The Divide: Carol Mattey on BEAD hope and hysteria, and stalled USF reform · March 18, 2026 · 39 min
- Cable shows signs of improvement, but is it out of the woods? · March 10, 2026 · 29 min
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