WISPA: Make Sure Reported Unlicensed Coverage is Up to Date
Unlicensed fixed wireless providers have a chance to make their coverage areas ineligible for BEAD funding.
WASHINGTON, June 12, 2025 – Broadband providers using unlicensed spectrum should make sure the coverage they reported to the Federal Communications Commission is up to date, WISPA said Thursday.
Under new rules for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program released Friday, states will have to make ineligible for funding some locations served with unlicensed fixed wireless. It's a victory for the group, which has been pushing for the chance to update BEAD maps.
Broadband offices will have to consult the FCC’s coverage map to see where coverage is reported, and then will reach out to those ISPs to quickly verify they can adequately mitigate interference before running an additional grant application round.
“If you’re looking to defend the areas you’re servicing now, then you need to make sure that your information is up to date,” WISPA CEO David Zumwalt told members on a webinar Thursday. “It’s critical that you make sure that your BDC information is up to date.”
Under former BEAD rules, areas served with only unlicensed fixed wireless were eligible for funding because of interference concerns, and the technology was excluded from the monthlong process of verifying government coverage data.
States have already begun the process of reaching out to the ISPs who have reported unlicensed coverage to the FCC, either through direct communications or public notices. Providers will have seven days to confirm they intend to submit evidence they meet minimum speed and latency requirements and can deal with interference, and another seven days to submit that information. If ISPs don’t reply or the state doesn’t find their submissions convincing, the locations will still be eligible for BEAD funding.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration laid out some examples of qualifying criteria, but WISPA staff noted some states might ask for different information.
“What you really need to try to do is demonstrate how your network is designed to mitigate interference,” said Louis Peraertz, WISPA’s VP of policy.
The group also urged providers to be on the lookout for those state communications, which are sometimes posted online as public notices.
“You may not be getting contacted directly from the states, and they’re running very short, seven-day windows,” Zumwalt said. “So if you haven’t been paying attention to that, you need to pay attention to it right away.”
Tennessee told providers Thursday they had seven days to notify the state they intend to verify unlicensed coverage. Other states like Illinois, South Carolina, Texas, Oregon, and Alaska have already done outreach. Oregon and Illinois said they would follow up with templates for submitting speed and interference mitigation evidence.
Alaska said evidence would have to be submitted on a location-by-location basis.
