Analyst flags 'significant disparities' in BEAD funding

The broadband industry of late has been buzzing with excitement after the White House revealed how much each state is getting from the $42.5 billion Broadband Access, Equity and Deployment (BEAD) program. Some states—like California, Texas and Missouri—bagged sizable BEAD allocations. But PwC Principal Dan Hays noted there are some “very significant disparities” with the allocations that aren’t apparent at first glance. Hays said if you were to take the $42 billion and divide it by the number of households in the US (around 123 million), it amounts to an allocation of roughly $336 per household. That sounds like a lot of money for the average household, but Alaska, for instance, “is actually getting more than 10 times that amount on a per household basis,” Hays said. Whereas a state like Massachusetts, with $147 million in BEAD funding, “is getting like $56 per household.” Another aspect of the allocations Hays found surprising was how much money the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) gave to US territories. Puerto Rico bagged the highest BEAD allotment ($334.6 million) out of the territories, followed by Guam ($157 million), the Northern Mariana Islands ($80.8 million), American Samoa ($37.6 million), and the US Virgin Islands ($27.1 million). Households in the Northern Mariana Islands “effectively got a $7,000 subsidy, whether they have broadband already or not.” And it’s not too dissimilar when you look at American Samoa, which is over $4,000 per household, or Guam, which was over $3,500, he added. Hays thinks territories are receiving such an influx of BEAD funding because their locations are “strategically important,” particularly for the US military.