Each state must set an extreme high-cost threshold for BEAD money

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has expressed a preference for fiber when it comes to dispensing $42.5 billion from the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding. But the NTIA rules allow U.S. states some leeway in regard to areas where it will be extremely expensive to deploy fiber. Specifically, states and territories must define their thresholds for extreme high-cost locations. This will open the door for less expensive alternatives to fiber to be deployed in areas where the fiber cost is over the threshold. But the NTIA expects the thresholds to be set as high as possible so that as many people receive fiber as possible. Extreme high-cost deployments of fiber got a lot of attention in 2022 when reports surfaced of some USDA ReConnect grants being allocated for crazily expensive fiber deployments. For example, the Alaska Telephone Company won a $33 million ReConnect grant to run fiber to 211 homes and five businesses at a shocking cost of nearly $204,000 per passing. The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) is working with the consulting company Cartesian to develop business models for deploying fiber in extremely high-cost situations.