BEAD Applicants Urged to Think Beyond End Users for Revenue

Telecom experts highlight telehealth, education, and agriculture as key opportunities.

BEAD Applicants Urged to Think Beyond End Users for Revenue
Screenshot of FBCA event, top left to bottom right: Haran Rashes, vice president and general counsel at Vivacity Infrastructure; Brian Ford, vice president of federal regulatory at NTCA; Kyle Hildebrand, chief revenue officer at Vivacity Infrastructure Group; and Aimee Meacham, vice president of government affairs at British Telecommunications.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2025 – As $42.5 billion in federal funding flows into broadband network deployment through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, telecom strategists emphasized the need for applicants to think beyond network construction.

At a Federal Communications Bar Association event Monday, industry leaders urged providers to explore innovative revenue sources like telehealth, tele-education, and agricultural technology. By including revenue generated from these value-added services, they could set themselves up for long-term success, panelists said.

“What you're going to get from the end-user customer is simply not going to be enough to sustain those networks over the long term,” said Brian Ford, vice president of federal regulatory at NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association.

He cautioned that building networks was only the first step, and maintaining, upgrading, and repairing them was a long-term commitment.

Ford said that the BEAD program allows for some flexibility in how funds can be used to cover operational expenses, referencing guidance from the National Telecommunications and Information Association, although applicants must still follow strict federal rules about how grant money can be spent, under 2 CFR Part 200.

The program has waived some of these rules to offer more flexibility, but Ford noted that the exact implementation and flexibility of these rules were still being understood.

Haran Rashes, vice president and general counsel at Vivacity Infrastructure, highlighted operational challenges that were often underestimated during the planning phase, such as locates, pole attachments, and ongoing maintenance. Addressing these costs, he said, would be essential for the long-term viability of networks.

Building on this, Kyle Hildebrand, chief revenue officer at Vivacity Infrastructure, introduced network commercialization – a strategy to monetize existing assets – as a potential solution to offset these operational expenses.

“One of the things we do is we market those assets, whether it’s fiber or conduit, or both, on behalf of that owner in a way that they generate ongoing recurring revenue that helps them pay for that maintenance,” Hildebrand explained.

This approach could include leasing fiber or conduit to third parties, such as E-Rate providers, to create a recurring revenue stream.

“You have to think about the sustainability of these networks. The more you think about that, the more they’re going to be useful in the future, and the less it’s going to cost,” Ford said, emphasizing BEAD applicants would be required to detail their plans for sustainability in applications.

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