Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) has been telling everyone for a couple of years that some unserved locations in the US will be too expensive to reach with fiber broadband, and trying to cover these locations with fiber will waste BEAD money. And now, WISPA has underwritten an analysis tool to help state broadband offices set their extremely-high-cost thresholds. WISPA has underwritten the new Broadband Funding Optimization Tool, which was created by the Vernonburg Group.

Congress has recently committed tens of billions of dollars to broadband deployment, but taxing broadband grants dramatically reduces their impact.

It’s unfortunate that this couldn’t have happened sooner, but the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently released a public notice seeking input on the challenge process for the Broadband Data Collection that the commission undertakes twice yearly. Broadband providers are required to report on broadband availability, and the data ultimately is used to update the National Broadband Map.

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) raising concerns that multiple states will fail to reach all unserved locations by funding fiber over other technologies. The concern comes as the NTIA is working on approving initial proposals for how each state and territory will conduct its Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program.

In Fiscal Year 2023, the Idaho Office of Broadband and Idaho Broadband Advisory Board (IBAB) continued its mission of improving Broadband access across Idaho. The Office of Broadband, the department hired a new State Broadband Program Manager to oversee the office — Ramón S. Hobdey-Sánchez.

In June 2023, President Joe Biden announced how $42 billion in Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment funding will be allocated across the US and its territories to bring 100% broadband access to nearly 60 million unserved or underserved Americans within five years. That goal, and the billions of dollars and new tools available, will give policymakers, communities, and industry stakeholders a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to bridge the digital divide. However, finances are finite and currently trending in a budget-busting “fiber-first” direction.

The Sanborn Map Company is one of a number of companies offering tools for states to help them prepare for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Launched in 2023, Sanborn’s Broadband Navigator is a tool that aims to simplify the BEAD challenge process.

The purpose of the Arkansas Digital Skills and Opportunity Plan is to outline an actionable path forward to make digital opportunity an economic benefit and reality for all Arkansans. This plan will position the state’s residents to pursue cross-sectoral economic growth through broadband-related, nondeployment activities and enhance workforce development. The draft plan is open for public comment until January 25, 2024. ARConnect has a detailed vision for achieving digital opportunity in Arkansas: 

The Office of Broadband Development (OBD) is located in the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. OBD was created by statute in 2013 and just completed its tenth year of work on its mission to improve access to broadband service that meets the state’s speed goals, serving the needs of anchor institutions, and expanding the skills and knowledge needed to use these services. Border-to-Border high speed internet access is the goal throughout Minnesota. 2023 milestones for the Office included:

AT&T sees opportunities to apply for funding in the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program in Texas and some other states, but likely will not apply for funding in many others, said the company’s CEO John Stankey. Noting that each state will set up its own rules for the program, Stankey said, “I point to a state like Texas. Policy-wise, they had a pretty sound approach to things. . .