Five reasons BEAD alone won’t deliver internet for all

In 2024, the first Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants will go out — an ambitious $42 billion in subsidies to build broadband infrastructure to close America’s digital divide. While excited and hopeful, I’m not alone in worrying that there is a significant gap between BEAD’s ambition and what it will likely deliver. BEAD alone is not enough. Here are five reasons why:

1. Not enough dollars to close the gap
2. Requirements risk shutting out low-income communities
3. A seller’s market puts communities in competition
4. Requirements favor incumbent internet service providers
5. Private equity is setting the stage for consolidation

We need impact finance and philanthropy to jump in with both feet. Far from being crowded out, BEAD is an urgent call to those who haven’t yet engaged with digital equity to provide the resources, advocacy, and partnerships to make universal internet access a reality.