It's challenging to determine BEAD-eligible locations, says Wireless 20/20

It will be super complicated for states to define the bidding areas for Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) grants. Some states may define bid areas by census blocks, school districts, or some other defined geography or cluster, while other states may go with a “free-for-all” approach, allowing bidders to say where they want to bid. Complexities will arise because bidders will probably have to work out deals with incumbent providers to reach many unserved areas in order to avoid duplicate infrastructure. Wireless 20/20, a consulting firm that does geospatial mapping of fiber broadband infrastructure, is offering two tools to help state broadband offices, service providers, private equity companies and any other stakeholders involved in the BEAD bidding process. Wireless 20/20 is offering its tools to help states determine grant-eligible locations. After those have been identified, then Wireless 20/20’s tools can also help users to run fiber-mile analysis to calculate the number of miles of fiber that must be deployed to connect a location.