Fiber Broadband Association and Cartesian Expand BEAD Funding Resources for State Broadband Offices

The Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and Cartesian unveiled their Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Threshold Financial Model that helps states calculate their Extremely High Cost Per Location Threshold (EHCT) for fiber broadband deployments using BEAD funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The sophisticated tool leverages geospatial analysis to build a financial model that states can use to develop their own cost thresholds for fiber deployments. The BEAD Threshold Financial Model is FBA’s latest resource that will help state broadband offices and others within the fiber broadband ecosystem connect every community to high-quality broadband and close the digital equity gap. FBA and Cartesian partnered to create the BEAD Threshold Financial Model to give states a credible methodology for arriving at a reasonable, tailored threshold. The goal is to set a threshold high enough to maximize fiber deployments but not so high that providers do not apply or do not agree to serve eligible locations, thereby stranding households without qualifying service.