Municipalities can apply for BEAD. Will it matter?

In spite of all the public broadband haters, municipalities will be allowed to vie for money from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Whether they'll win BEAD grants or even bother trying, however, is still anyone's guess. Public networks have seen opposition from incumbent providers and political adversaries. According to Broadband Now, 16 states have legislation that either restricts municipal broadband or bars it entirely. While the BEAD program requires states to allow local governments and utilities to apply for grants, that doesn’t mean they will actually win any BEAD money, American Association for Public Broadband (AAPB) Executive Director Gigi Sohn [Senior Fellow and Public Advocate at the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society] told Fierce Telecom. Although state officials have encouraged municipalities to apply for BEAD funds, restrictions could still get in the way. Sohn said even though municipalities may be welcome to apply, there likely won’t be a lot winning BEAD grants. That's in part because many public networks are in in suburbs or small cities that are already considered served with internet, and the BEAD program is targeted at underserved and unserved locations.