Municipal Broadband 2023: 17 States Risk BEAD Funding Delays

For decades, municipal broadband operations have been subject to a minefield of restrictions and barriers designed to make the prospect of establishing or maintaining a community broadband network costly, difficult, and unsustainable. There are currently 17 states in total that have restrictive legislation against municipal broadband networks in the US. Although no states have managed to remove their restrictions in 2022, 2023 could be the year that things begin to change for states that have historically been opposed to allowing for a public option. A key stipulation in the language surrounding the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants may set up a large-scale, politically motivated battleground. Four additional states (Iowa, Colorado, Oregon, and Wyoming) have other forms of roadblocks in place that make operating municipal networks more difficult. Two states – Maine and New York – successfully passed pro-municipal bills over the past year. States with roadblocks are setting up potentially public (and lengthy) legal battles with the US government over BEAD grant funding opportunities.