States Report Major Cost Savings in BEAD Broadband Proposals
State officials reported big cost savings and varied tech plans as most raced to meet the Sept. 4 BEAD deadline.
WASHINGTON, September 8, 2025 – State broadband officials reported dramatic cost reductions and diverse technology deployments as most states faced a deadline of Thursday, Sept. 4, to submit final proposals for the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program during a Broadband Breakfast Live Online panel on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Maine achieved the most striking cost efficiency, with Andrew Butcher, president of the Maine Connectivity Authority, saying that his state would spend just $48 million to serve remaining unconnected locations — down from an original $272 million allocation.
"We're looking at an average subsidy to those 24,000 locations of about $2,080 per location," Butcher said during the online event. "These were the locations that we anticipated being some of the most costly and the most remote and most rural."
Broadband Breakfast
The dramatic reduction resulted from the Commerce Department’s "benefit of the bargain" competitive process that yielded "about $200 million in deployment cost savings" and attracted 69% private investment commitments, Butcher said. Maine's technology mix includes 85% fiber deployments, 14% low Earth orbit satellite and 1% hybrid fixed cable.
Minnesota Broadband Office Executive Director Bree Maki, speaking while driving between stakeholder meetings, reported preliminary results showing 56% fiber and coax deployment, 26.5% satellite and 17.5% wireless across 76,000 unserved locations.
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