Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Digital Beat

When Fiber is Too Expensive for BEAD, NTIA OKs Plans for Wireless, LEO

NTIA releases Final BEAD Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice

On January 2, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published the Final Bead Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice to provide additional guidance to states and territories¹ regarding the use of non-fiber technologies to serve unserved and underserved locations through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. 

The BEAD Program is designed to deploy broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations in the U.S. The BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), released in May 2022,  established a hierarchy of technologies for awarding subgrants for Unserved and Underserved Service Projects:

• Priority Broadband Projects use end-to-end fiber.
• Other Reliable Broadband Service Projects include wired, non-fiber technology, hybrid fiber-coaxial technology, and terrestrial fixed wireless.
• Alternative Technology Projects employ any technology that does not qualify as reliable broadband service, including unlicensed fixed wireless and low-earth orbit satellites.

The January 2 policy notice outlines the steps states and territories must take when deciding to award BEAD subgrants to non-fiber broadband deployment projects. 

Relevant Definitions

1. Alternative Technology: Any broadband access technology that terminates at the end user’s location or premises and does not qualify as Reliable Broadband Service, but meets the BEAD Program’s minimum technical requirements of speeds of not less than 100 Mbps for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads and latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds. This definition may include, but is not limited to, unlicensed fixed wireless (ULFW) and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite service.

2. Broadband Serviceable Location (BSL): a business or residential location in the United States at which fixed broadband Internet access service is, or can be, installed.

3. Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold (EHCPLT): a BEAD subsidy cost per location to be utilized during the subgrantee selection process above which a state may decline to select a proposal if use of an alternative technology meeting the BEAD Program’s technical requirements would be less expensive.

4. Priority Broadband Project: A project that will provide service via end-to-end fiber-optic facilities to each end-user premises.

5. Reliable Broadband Service: Broadband service that the Broadband DATA Maps show is accessible to a location via: 

  (i) fiber-optic technology; 

  (ii) Cable Modem/Hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) technology; 

  (iii) digital subscriber line (DSL) technology; or 

  (iv) terrestrial fixed wireless technology utilizing entirely licensed spectrum or using a hybrid of licensed and unlicensed spectrum.

6. Unlicensed Fixed Wireless Provider (ULFW): a company that delivers internet service using wireless technology, but operates on a portion of the radio spectrum that doesn't require a specific license to use, meaning anyone can access that band, unlike licensed providers who have exclusive rights to their assigned spectrum.

7. Underserved Location: A broadband-serviceable location that is 

(a) not an unserved location, and 

(b) that the Broadband DATA Maps show as lacking access to Reliable Broadband Service offered with—

(i) a speed of not less than 100 Mbps for downloads; 

(ii) a speed of not less than 20 Mbps for uploads; and 

(iii) latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.

8. Unserved Location: A broadband-serviceable location that the Broadband DATA Maps show as having no access to broadband service, or lacking access to Reliable Broadband Service offered with—

• a speed of not less than 25 Mbps for downloads; 
• a speed of not less than 3 Mbps for uploads; and 
• latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds.

Identifying Project Areas Eligible For Alternative Technology Subgrants

If a state or territory finds itself with project areas for which no service provider is willing to provide reliable broadband services at or below the Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold (EHCPLT), it must answer two questions before selecting Alternative Technology subgrantees:

1. Are any Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) in the project area already subject to an enforceable commitment from an Alternative Technology service provider, with ongoing network performance monitoring to provide service that meets the BEAD Program’s technical requirements? An enforceable commitment for the deployment of qualifying broadband exists when made as a condition of a federal, state, or local grant, loan, or loan guarantee to a broadband provider.
2. Are any BSLs in the project area already served by an unlicensed fixed wireless (ULFW) provider that has the capacity to deliver service meeting the BEAD Program’s technical requirements?

States should consult the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Funding Map and other information collected during the development of its Five Year Action Plan about planned subsidized broadband infrastructure deployments. If an Alternative Technology provider has an enforceable commitment to deploy service to BSLs within a project area, the state must next determine whether the funding program includes network performance monitoring that will verify that the service is provided at or above the BEAD Program’s technical requirements for at least four years after the estimated date of submission of the Final Proposal. When such network performance monitoring is included as part of an enforceable commitment to provide Alternative Technology, states and territories may not issue an Alternative Technology subgrant that covers those locations.

If no Alternative Technology providers are subject to an enforceable commitment in a project area, a state or territory must review the FCC’s National Broadband Map to determine whether an Unlicensed Fixed Wireless Provider (ULFW) currently provides service in the project area that meets the BEAD technical requirements. If so, the state must give the provider an opportunity to show that it is “reasonably capable of delivering such service to some or all of those locations for at least four years after the date of Final Proposal submission.” If the provider can show that it is reasonably capable, an Alternative Technology subgrant for that area will not be allowed. 

If a state or territory has ruled out any existing providers in a grant area, it must identify an Alternative Technology broadband deployment project to make the required Final Proposal certification. States may award subgrants through a variety of means. If a state does not receive any proposals to serve a location, it may engage with existing or prospective providers to find subgrantees willing to cover the location. 

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Capacity Subgrants

NTIA will provide states and territories flexibility to award BEAD subgrants for the reservation of capacity on a LEO satellite network to deliver last-mile service. The subgrant must reserve a sufficient amount of capacity for the LEO provider to deliver qualifying broadband service (broadband at or above 100/20 mbps) to each BSL in the project area. 

Recipients of LEO capacity subgrants must begin providing broadband service to each customer who desires broadband service not later than four years from the date of the subgrant. NTIA will require that states apply a period of performance for LEO subgrants that concludes ten years from the date upon which the subgrantee certifies that broadband is available to every location covered by the project. Subgrantees must continue to offer service throughout the period of performance. Extending the period of performance for LEO subgrants to ten years will help NTIA and states and territories ensure that the consumer and taxpayer protections that apply to all other last-mile deployment projects will apply to LEO subgrants for a similar duration. 

States and territories must ensure the reasonableness of the cost of the capacity for which BEAD funding will be used. Prospective subgrantees seeking a LEO subgrant should submit their estimated cost for reserving capacity in the project area. States may generally reimburse subgrantees for each location where capacity is reserved. Alternatively, states may base reimbursement on subscriber milestones or another metric that creates an incentive for recipients of LEO subgrants to enroll subscribers in BEAD-subsidized locations.  

Determining the financial capacity of LEO providers presents a unique challenge for states and territories as they determine whether applicants meet the subgrantee qualifications. To reduce the burden on both states and LEO providers, NTIA encourages LEO providers to submit audited financial statements to NTIA demonstrating their financial capacity to undertake the commitments of a subgrantee in all areas in which the provider seeks to serve. NTIA in turn will work with the provider to develop a financial certification letter documenting the financial capability of the provider.

With the exception of projects in designated “high-cost areas” and other cases in which NTIA has waived the matching requirement, in the context of subgrants used to fund broadband network infrastructure deployment, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act requires each state to provide, require its subgrantee to provide, or provide in concert with its subgrantee matching funds of not less than 25 percent of project costs. 

Expanding Connectivity Through Alternative Technologies

With this new guidance, NTIA is acknowledging that connecting everyone in America will require a variety of technologies. Now states and territories have more clarity about how to fund a broad range of technologies to ensure connectivity for the most remote and expensive locations.

Notes

1. Officially, the BEAD Program uses the term “Eligible Entity” for any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; here we use “states” or “states and territories.”

Zoë Walker is a Writing Associate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society.

Kevin Taglang
Executive Editor, Communications-related Headlines
Benton Institute
for Broadband & Society
1041 Ridge Rd, Unit 214
Wilmette, IL 60091
847-220-4531
headlines AT benton DOT org