The Smallest BEAD Dilemma

One of the biggest challenges for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant is for State Broadband Offices to make sure that every unserved location gets covered by the grants. My understanding of the process is that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will not approve the BEAD grants being made by a State until they can demonstrate that every unserved and underserved location will be covered by the grants. The problem here is that there are a lot of little pockets of unserved and underserved households that are surrounded by served households. The number one criteria for awarding grant points is by having the lowest construction cost per passing. That cost per passing goes up significantly when an ISP has to reach small, scattered pockets. State broadband offices are going to have a hard time convincing ISPs to serve tiny pockets of customers.