Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Indiana’s Initial Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative. This approval enables Indiana to request access to funding and begin implementation of the BEAD program—a major step towards closing the digital divide and meeting the President’s goal of connecting everyone in America with affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service.

Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) President Andrew Butcher isn’t hyper-focused on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program and the $272 million that Maine will be receiving. “Unfortunately, I think it’s a common misnomer that, once you deploy BEAD, the problem is solved,” Butcher said. The MCA was founded and structured largely based on lessons from Maine’s successful 2020 state bond campaign and 2021 bid for $28 million from National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Infrastructure Program to support six community-driven, regional-scale, publ

Californians will work to make broadband maps as accurate as possible via a challenge process running from July 8 through Aug. 5. The final maps will determine if the most in need will get internet infrastructure into their homes. But advocates say the internet access maps are highly inaccurate. Only local and tribal governments, internet service providers, and advocacy groups can demand changes to the map.

The Federal Communications Commission's  Wireline Competition Bureau provided guidance to Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) and Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II support recipients and other stakeholders regarding the processes for provider defaults. Support recipients are showing significant progress in meeting their deployment milestones and there is no demonstrated need for widespread relief from the RDOF and CAF Phase II default penalties.

AT&T CEO John Stankey said the most critical issue facing the telecommunications industry is the effective implementation of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program. To close the digital divide, Stankey said, additional policies should be created to ensure that all BEAD Program funds (“every dollar of taxpayer money”) are used to expand access to broadband as quickly as possible.

NATOA, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) recently made Community Broadband and Digital Equity Awards to three communities and recognized the strides the cities have made in tackling the digital divide.

In the second installment of the Information Technology and Information Foundation’s Access America series, Jess Dine discusses the challenges and opportunities of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program for the state of Michigan with Jessica Randall of Michigan’s broadband office. They talk about the way that Michigan intertwined BEAD's deployment mandate with broader inclusion and equity concerns in the Michigan State Digital Equity Plan.

It’s now clear that State Broadband Offices are going to put a lot of pressure on Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) winners to spend grant awards and build networks as quickly as possible. Internet service providers (ISP) generally have the same goal, because getting customers quickly is the best way to make sure an ISP can pay for the network. However, there are numerous reasons why BEAD fiber construction might be delayed:

Uncertainty breeds caution, especially when money itself costs more and is hard to get. But, with the $42 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) spigot set to turn on in about six months, deployments have actually slowed. Financing is indeed difficult, but not just because interest rates are high. The end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) in May ended a guaranteed cashflow that investors and lenders liked.

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Notice Of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) outlines specific requirements for states and subgrant recipients to ensure they provide comprehensive broadband service. Specifically, the Program “prioritizes projects designed to provide fiber connectivity directly to the end user.” Providing reliable, high-speed internet to every unit within a multi-dwelling unit (MDU) is implicitly required to meet the goals of the BEAD program.