Louisiana Will be Tech-Neutral on BEAD. Say What?

When Executive Director for ConnectLA—Louisiana's broadband office—Veneeth Iyengar was asked if he was concerned that there might be areas of Louisiana that no broadband provider would want to serve, his response was, "We’re not concerned [because] it’s all in how you design the program. We will create as much competition as possible. Part of it is we’re technology neutral.” The state, which will receive $1.3 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding, will accept applications from providers planning to use fixed wireless access (FWA) or even satellite services, Iyengar said. Those plans might seem to be at odds with BEAD program rules that call for awardees to deploy fiber broadband. However, in extremely high-cost areas, awardees will be able to use FWA and certain other technologies, but not satellite broadband. Louisiana plans to define high-cost areas at the end of the bidding process, so the broadband office isn't "boxed in," says Iyengar.