Serving the Most Remote Locations

There is a provision in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant rules that says that if no broadband provider seeks funding in an unserved or underserved area, a state broadband office may engage with providers to find somebody willing to serve such areas. In order to make this work, states are allowed to offer additional inducements, such as providing additional state matching funds for the grant areas. State broadband offices would also be able to provide some kind of extra scoring points during the grant processes to make such grants eligible—with all of this being done with total transparency. A state is first required to put out a general request for providers to serve such areas, a step that I assume would mean issuing an RFP. If that effort fails, the state can reach out and negotiate with specific providers to serve the unclaimed areas. This option is driven by the overall goal of the BEAD grants to bring broadband to everybody who is unserved or underserved. This requirement will only kick in for states that have leftover money after trying to satisfy BEAD grant applications. However,  the rules are not broadband provider-friendly and allow a state broadband office to seek alternate proposals or to allow other technologies for such areas—such as fixed wireless using unlicensed spectrum or satellite broadband. These rules add one more layer of complexity to an already complex grant program.