3 major takeaways emerge from US Broadband Summit

The US Broadband Summit brought together top leaders from across the country to talk about state efforts related to the Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment (BEAD) program. Three major topics emerged from the summit — both at public sessions as well as the buzz in the hallways.

1. States must submit a slew of details to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) by December 27: NTIA requires a proposal from each state and territory, and those proposals are divided into two volumes. Both volume 1 and volume 2 must be submitted to NTIA by December 27, and their status is being tracked on a progress dashboard. 
2. There's some concern not enough ISPs will apply for BEAD: In order to lure a broad slate of sub-grantee candidates, panelists at the summit noted states should seek to minimize the number of additional hurdles for operators that they build into their BEAD broadband plans and grant programs. Even so, some BEAD requirements are out of states’ hands, having been set by the federal government.
3. The workforce shortage haunts BEAD: As ISPs ramp up their fiber deployments and prepare to apply for BEAD funding, state governments and service providers alike are working to fill the staffing gap. But even if potential technicians get the training they need, some states may not have enough jobs for them.