Should Grant-funded Networks be Open-Access?

There was an interesting political effort in the Washington State Legislature recently to expand the use of open-access networks. There was language included in Substitute House Bill 1147 that would require that any network funded from Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program grants must become open-access and available to other broadband providers.  Open-access has been a topic in Washington for many years. There was a long-time prohibition against Public Utility Districts (PUDs) from offering retail broadband. These county-wide government-owned utilities wanted to bring better broadband and settled by building open-access networks. Open-access is a network where multiple providers can reach customers. This provides customers with the choice of using multiple providers on the same network. The BEAD grant rules have a clear preference for open-access networks, and any carrier promising an open network will get extra points on a grant application. But the open-access preference is only a suggestion and not a requirement.