Louisiana First State to Release Its Final Plans for BEAD
The state will serve all its eligible locations, with 95 percent set to receive fiber.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2024 – Louisiana released Monday the broadband expansion projects it plans to fund with its slice of $42.5 billion in Infrastructure Act funding, becoming the first state in the nation to do so.
The state confirmed it will reach every home and business lacking adequate broadband, a main goal of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. Of those nearly 140,000 locations, more than 95 percent are slated to be served with fiber. The remaining are split between fixed wireless and satellite, plus a small amount of cable.
The biggest winner was a consortium of local fiber providers, taking home more than $450 million to serve 76,800 homes and businesses, followed by Conexon, which is set to receive nearly $66 million to serve 8,400 locations, and AT&T, which won nearly $55 million to serve 20,000 locations. Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of the state’s broadband office, noted in a statement that 70 percent of Louisiana’s deployment spending will go to companies based in the state.
