Washington Signs Seven BEAD Grants
A Colorado ISP also disputed the state’s claim that it misused grant funds
WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2026 – After years of prep work, federal broadband subsidies are beginning to flow in Washington State.
Washington's broadband office signed contracts with seven ISPs under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the state announced Thursday.
The seven providers included four local ISPs, two tribes, and a public utility district. They’re set to reach about 28,000 of Washington’s 166,500 BEAD-eligible locations.
The grants signed account for about $124 million of the state’s planned $736 million in deployment spending.
The remaining providers have until Oct. 8 to sign their contracts under federal rules, the state said in a release.
With contracts signed, more permitting work will have to be done on the cleared projects before they break ground. Other states are still hammering out their grant agreements with participating ISPs, with projects just beginning to break ground in some states.
Jordan Arnold, the state's broadband director, said earlier this month that one fixed wireless project was already nearing construction. The permitting on fixed wireless projects tends to be simpler than laying fiber.
Under Washington’s approved spending plan, satellite providers SpaceX and Amazon are set to service a combined 27 percent of the state’s BEAD-funded locations. That number is likely to come down, since the Commerce Department asked states to revise down satellite awards in light of new federal broadband coverage maps.
Colorado funding recision
On Friday, the Colorado Sun reported that Maverix Broadband cofounder David Lindauer disputed the state’s allegation his company misused grant funds.
Lindauer did not respond to a request for comment from Broadband Breakfast.
Colorado’s broadband office said Tuesday it was canceling a $100 million BEAD award to Maverix after finding unpaid vendors and payments made for materials and services that were never received.
The state said it would pursue $3.2 million in apparently missing money from other state and federal grants through the court handling Mavrix’s bankruptcy case.
According to the Sun report Friday, Maverix said it “disputes every calculation, determination and finding” in the state’s monitoring report.
The Colorado Broadband Office said it referred the case to the Treasury Department’s inspector general and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. The office will re-bid the 10,000 locations Maverix was set to serve.
“Colorado takes our responsibility to protect taxpayer funds seriously, and when concerns were raised, our safeguards worked,” Colorado Chief Information Officer Sarah Tuneberg said in a statement. “The State took swift action to freeze all payments, investigate the source of funding misuse, and is taking full action to hold Maverix accountable."
