State Broadband Offices Racing to Get BEAD Cash Out the Door

DENVER -- States are marching ahead to meet requirements for NTIA’s $42.5 billion broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program and trying to distribute money to subgrantees next year, state broadband directors said during the Mountain Connect conference Tuesday. They were optimistic about having enough money to connect everyone, though they cautioned that the technology used will vary. Don’t be afraid to use satellite connections, urged SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell in a keynote. “I don’t think the math works without Starlink.”

NTIA approved Colorado’s challenge data Monday, making it one of a handful of states to make it that far in the process, the broadband office’s executive director, Brandy Reitter, said. The agency previously approved Colorado’s complete initial plan. Colorado's plans include opening applications on Aug. 30 and meeting most remaining BEAD requirements by year-end, Reitter said. The goal, she said, is to have money flowing in time for construction season, hopefully in late spring or early summer 2025.

Louisiana hopes it will obligate all BEAD funds, including for deployment and nondeployment, by mid-November, the state broadband office’s Executive Director Veneeth Iyengar said. It was the first state to receive NTIA approval of a complete initial plan earlier this year. NTIA approved Louisiana’s challenge data about two months ago, he said.

Utah hopes construction can begin in summer 2025, its broadband director, Rebecca Dilg, said: The state completed its challenge process this week and recently received approval of volume two of its initial plan, she added.

Kansas expects it will start accepting applications this month, Jade Piros de Carvalho, the state’s former broadband director, said. Now vice president-broadband advocacy for Bonfire Infrastructure Group, Piros de Carvalho noted that it took NTIA five months to approve its challenge data. She hopes the agency will move faster in approving the state’s final BEAD plan, which could be submitted in April, she said. Virginia received an OK on its volume 2 last week after submitting it in September, said Chandler Vaughan, the state broadband office’s associate director. Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming directors also reported recent volume 2 approvals.

Ohio hopes to start accepting applications by year-end, but hasn’t yet received volume 2 approval due to back-and-forth between the state and NTIA on aspects of the draft, Ohio Broadband Office Director Peter Voderberg said. It took a while to get approval of volume 1 for similar reasons, he said. For Ohio, there is sometimes “a lot of tension” reaching agreement with the feds.

Mississippi aims to accept BEAD applications in Q1 2025 but also hasn’t received volume 2 approval, said Sally Doty, that state’s broadband director. The state started its challenge process last week, she said. Nebraska and Texas directors said their states are awaiting approval of those plans.

A ‘Universe’ of Technologies

Achieving universal coverage “will take every single dollar we have,” Voderberg said. But the Ohio official worries about “things I can’t control” that could create “unanticipated costs.” Piros de Carvalho said Kansas “understands the assignment” and will have a final plan covering everyone, though it will be a multi-technology strategy, she said.

“None of us got enough money to do a purely fiber build, other than Louisiana,” said Oklahoma Broadband Office Chief Strategic Officer Edyn Rolls. Texas got the biggest BEAD allocation -- $3.3 billion -- but still can’t do 100% fiber, the state’s broadband director, Greg Conte, said.

Wireless and low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology will be part of New Mexico’s universal coverage under BEAD, said Drew Lovelace, that state’s broadband director. Kansas expects its build will be 75% fiber and 25% wireless, said Joseph Le, interim broadband director. Kansas encourages entities to file multiple applications proposing different technology approaches for the same potential projects, he said. Some areas can be connected only with alternative technologies like fixed wireless or satellite, Sandip Bhowmick, Arizona’s state broadband director, said.

Wireless is an “important tool in the toolshed,” said Chad Bolling, Wyoming Business Council broadband manager. Dilg said that people choose to live in high-cost rural areas and understand the disadvantages. Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for them to get a fiber connection, she said. For those rural residents, getting 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload will be a big improvement regardless of how it’s delivered, she added.

Fixed wireless has gotten much faster, but isn’t always cheaper than fiber, Nebraska Broadband Director Patrick Haggerty noted. Reitter agreed wireless isn’t always a “slam dunk.” It’s important to consider the “full universe” of technologies, including satellite, said the Colorado official.

Permitting and pole attachments are top of mind issues, the state directors said. Colorado is proactively urging possible BEAD applicants to make sure they fully understand pole attachment costs, said Reitter. Utah hopes for legislation that would cap costs for deploying networks across railroads and canals, said Dilg.

States and NTIA must remain clear-eyed and think now about what to do if BEAD awardees break their commitments, said Rolls. “We can only do so much work on the frontend to prevent companies from pulling out.” It could take months to approve states' final plans, and “realistically … there are going to be companies that aren’t going to want to participate anymore because it’s no longer financially viable for them.”

Also, Rolls worries about who will monitor BEAD projects 10 years from now, when the Oklahoma broadband office may no longer exist, she said. New Mexico’s office should still exist and be able to monitor, Lovelace predicted. Kansas is trying today to ensure a network’s longevity “goes beyond our office’s existence,” Le said.

SpaceX Eyes BEAD Dollars

SpaceX is “technically capable” of meeting BEAD requirements, including for speed and latency, said Shotwell, but “there are some structural elements of the BEAD program that we’re working with [the U.S. Commerce Department] to get through that would make it work really well.”

With the U.S. government paying for fiber, it makes sense for the government to claim it owns the network in a situation where the network’s private operator goes away, said Shotwell: But SpaceX spent more than $10 billion to build Starlink without government funds. “So for me to participate in BEAD, I don’t want” the government claiming ownership of the network “because they didn’t pay the $10 billion for that network.”

Fiber is a better fit for highly populated areas, said Shotwell. The nature of SpaceX’s satellite technology would limit it to serving a small fraction of a city’s population. “We can serve cities, but we can’t serve everybody in cities,” she said. “But we can serve everybody in [the] rural U.S.”