Cities and counties need to prepare for broadband construction as BEAD monies flow to the public sector

As Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program funding starts to stimulate increased broadband planning and construction, some industry experts predict an increased need for workers skilled in several tasks, such as the ability to read and understand complicated maps showing all the existing underground facilities near a broadband installation site, and the ability to operate equipment for trenching, earth-drilling and wire-cable placement on poles. Trent Edwards, president of fiber broadband infrastructure company Mears Broadband, said his firm has seen small towns and cities team up, collaborate and combine resources on broadband projects in specific regions. This approach, he said, can aid in making a good business case for a particular community broadband project. “Historically, we haven’t seen a lot of cooperation because of competing interests,” he said. “But there’s an opportunity for municipal areas to come together in a cluster approach that I think makes a lot of sense.” Heather Gold, vice president, external affairs at Mears Broadband, said cooperative contracts can offer significant advantages to public entities that use them. She noted that the contracts can take a variety of forms. One example would be an organization that comes in with a start-to-finish partnership, which entails engineering, construction, equipment and maintenance.