Beware the Grant Challenges

One of the hurdles faced by communities pursuing broadband grants is that many grant programs allow incumbent broadband providers to challenge the validity of a grant. The most common challenge is for an incumbent provider to claim that a grant incorrectly includes homes and businesses that already have access to fast broadband. It appears that the purpose of many challenges is to delay the process, with the ultimate hope to derail or cancel grant requests. Everyone should be aware of the implications of such challenges on the upcoming $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant. The fact that challenges to BEAD grants are allowed puts the burden on communities to do the homework to make sure that grant areas fit the grant rules. This means gathering speed tests and also getting testimonials from residents explaining the lack of broadband choices. Grant offices can get overwhelmed if huge numbers of challenges are filed – communities that can prove their story are going to fare the best.