The way that I see it: America’s Fiber Crisis Is an Avoidable Mistake — And Washington Needs to Correct Course
Author: Brad Broadwell
I spent years inside the U.S. Department of Commerce working on the programs designed to strengthen American industry. I believe in domestic manufacturing. I believe in American workers. And I believe in the principle behind Build America, Buy America (BABA). But I also learned something Washington often forgets that policy only works when it aligns with economic reality.
Right now, BABA and the BEAD broadband program are on a collision course. The result is a national infrastructure effort slowed by a mistake that should not need to happen.
When Congress passed BABA, the goal was noble: rebuild American manufacturing capacity and ensure taxpayer dollars support American workers. But the BEAD program requires a volume of fiber-optic cable that the United States simply does not produce. Not in 2026. From the estimates I have read not even close.
Inside Commerce, we ran the capacity models for numerous trade deals. We knew domestic production as well as international inflows. But although I am not privy to current US government data, this I do know; fiber production was not growing fast enough to meet BEAD’s demand curve. The warning signs were not subtle. The mistake wasn’t the goal. It was the assumption that domestic manufacturing capacity would scale to meet a once-in-a-generation infrastructure program.
Today, BEAD awardees are living with the consequences. I’ve heard up to a twelve-month lead time for U.S.-made fiber. Seventy to eighty percent price spikes for BABA-compliant cable. Canceled purchase orders. Manufacturers rationing supply to hyper scalers. Small and mid-size ISPs seemingly unable to break ground. None of this is surprising. It is the direct result of ignoring the production realities we laid out years ago.
Broadband is not a luxury. It is the backbone of advanced manufacturing, telehealth, logistics, education, and rural economic development. Every month BEAD projects are delayed, the U.S. economy loses productivity, competitiveness, workforce participation, and private-sector investment. We are slowing down the very communities BEAD was designed to help compete.
Some argue that allowing foreign fiber undermines American manufacturing. I understand that reaction, I’ve spent my career promoting and defending U.S. industry. But this is not a choice between “Buy American” and “Buy Chinese.” The United States has trusted allies with world-class fiber manufacturing: Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, India. A temporary, targeted waiver can be written to exclude adversarial nations entirely while still allowing BEAD to move forward.
A temporary waiver is not a retreat from American manufacturing. It is the correction to an avoidable mistake — a pragmatic adjustment that keeps the country building while domestic capacity catches up.
Congress has three options: expand the BABA waiver for fiber-optic cable, extend BEAD deadlines, or massively subsidize domestic fiber manufacturing. Only one of these options keeps BEAD on schedule and protects U.S. competitiveness: a temporary, targeted waiver allowing allied-nation fiber to fill the gap.
The global economy is not waiting for us to sort out our procurement rules. If the United States cannot deploy broadband at scale, we will lose ground in AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, data center development, rural revitalization, and national security readiness. We cannot afford to let a paperwork rule derail a generational investment.
A temporary waiver keeps America building, keeps America competitive, and keeps America moving forward. It is time to correct the mistake.