A Year of Prepping for BEAD Projects

State broadband heads forged ahead with preparations to get BEAD grants out the door in 2024 — over a steady stream of GOP grumbling. There’s been talk among the party and industry watchers about potential changes under the incoming Trump administration, while the agency running the program has maintained nothing too disruptive is on the horizon.

At least 17 states have begun fielding project proposals under the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, with at least another six scheduled to begin early next year. Three states — Louisiana, Delaware, and Nevada — have released tentative spending plans. State broadband offices are the ones ultimately implementing the Infrastructure Act program, and it looks a bit different in each state and territory.

Almost every state has finished its mandatory challenge process, a chance for nonprofits, local governments, and ISPs to contest government broadband coverage data that determines which homes and businesses are eligible, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Commerce Department agency tasked with managing the program, setting national guidelines, and approving state implementation plans.

Chart of States Accepting BEAD Grant Applications

Braodband Breakfast is tracking each state’s BEAD grant application window.

Broadband BreakfastBroadband Breakfast

Years of preparation for BEAD

The program was designed to connect every home and business in the country lacking adequate broadband, and the task has taken lots of mapping, deliberation, and prep work behind the scenes.

The Federal Communications Commission map used to make state-level funding allocations was finished in May 2023, and states have been working since then to get implementation plans together. The NTIA approved the last of them in November, leaving the remaining states all free to begin fielding grant applications once eligibility data is finalized, something that also requires federal approval.

This year, Republicans on Capitol Hill made it clear they were unhappy with key aspects of the program. GOP lawmakers thought the deliberative structure was making things too slow, and also took aim at BEAD’s preference for fiber-optic cable and its requirement that participating ISPs offer a cheaper plan for low-income customers on their new infrastructure, among other provisions.

The program requires states to give priority to fiber projects, the thinking being its higher speed capacity will make it less likely to become obsolete down the line. States can fund other technologies like fixed wireless and satellite, cheaper and quicker to deploy, in places where fiber projects would burn through cash before ensuring universal coverage, or if fiber providers don’t show an interest.

Low-cost options?

A low-cost option of some kind is required by the statute, but ISPs and Republicans have balked at the NTIA’s policy of asking states for a specific range of allowable prices. The low-cost requirement varies from state to state.

GOP members of the House Commerce Committee grilled NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson at multiple house hearings over the course of the year, in which he defended the agency’s policies as necessary for the program’s mission.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, another frequent critic poised to lead the Senate Commerce Committee in the new Congress, has already called for the NTIA to pause BEAD work. Cruz promised to “review” the program in his new role.

While experts have said the timing would make it increasingly difficult or time-consuming for states to implement a change to how projects are selected — nearly half are taking and reviewing applications under the current rules — industry analyst and former FCC chief of staff Blair Levin has said it’s possible a GOP NTIA could seek to somehow move more dollars away from fiber. Major Trump donor and advisor Elon Musk owns satellite ISP Starlink, which has gone through the vetting process to participate in some states, and both he and Trump have publicly criticized the preference for fiber.

Louisiana and Nevada are both planning to fund some wireless and satellite broadband under the current rules as part of the effort to reach every location in their state. Some states have predicted allocating a majority of their funds to non-fiber projects.

Davidson has said he’s stepping down Jan. 20, 2025. It’s not clear who his successor will be, but the agency tasked with giving the final greenlight to state spending plans will eventually be under Republican control.

Davidson and other NTIA officials, for their part, have downplayed the idea that a disruptive shake-up is certain. In October he cast the complaints as a bit of election year politics and said he was “not that concerned about the future of this program.”

Evan Feinman, the agency’s  BEAD director, has said the long-term nature of the program meant an administration change of some kind during implementation was always going to happen. He’s said he and his staff — not political appointees — don’t have plans to leave come January.

“We don’t have any reason to believe at present that there’s going to be any sort of significant shift,” he said at an event soon after the election.

The lawsuit

One state hit a particular snag. Rhode Island’s broadband office was sued by Cox Communications in September in an attempt to invalidate the state’s BEAD coverage map.

The company had alleged the state’s challenge process rules were unworkable and prevented Cox from rebutting challenges to its coverage at about 30,000 locations. The state denied this and countered Cox was trying to avoid BEAD cash going to a competitor on its doorstep, but the case never got fully litigated.

A state judge dismissed the case in November, saying Cox would have to file in the D.C. Circuit, where BEAD disputes are required to be sorted out under the Infrastructure Act. Cox said at the time it was considering doing so, but no such case appears in D.C. Circuit records.