- Nebraska confirmed it is reopening its BEAD portal after several providers failed to sign their final agreements
- Wisconsin is launching a new broadband program to plug BEAD gaps
- The moves raise questions about whether defaults, economics and other factors could stop BEAD from achieving its goal of universal coverage
After a year of rebidding and guidance changes, the U.S. broadband industry breathed a sigh of relief in February when the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it had approved the vast majority of final state BEAD proposals, opening the door for funding to flow. But just a few months in, it seems cracks in the BEAD program are beginning to show.
Nebraska just confirmed plans to reopen its BEAD bidding portal after the Nebraska Examiner reported three ISPs declined to sign their final funding agreements. The state broadband office said 1,735 locations in the state remained without commitments, representing 12% of the 14,032 BEAD-eligible locations in the state.
“In order to serve the remaining eligible locations, the Nebraska Broadband Office (NBO) will open another application round to promote competition between internet providers with a focus on quality and end-user experience,” the state wrote in a press release. “In addition, NBO will publish a new map outlining the remaining inventory available for application in the coming weeks.”
The announcement came just days after Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers announced a $60 million grant program to bring broadband to unserved locations overlooked by BEAD and specifically targeting those without speeds of 100/20 Mbps. The state’s broadband office estimated that around at least 30,000 locations would remain underserved after accounting for fiber and fixed wireless deployments from BEAD and other programs.
The move appeared to be a tacit criticism of the Trump Administration’s decision to allocate more BEAD money to satellite service, which the press release classified among technologies with “shorter useful lives and lower performance speeds.” The state’s current BEAD plan calls for 24,721 locations to receive this type of service.
Fierce’s take
The original goal of the BEAD program was ensuring every household in the country had access to fast, reliable broadband service. But much has changed in the years since it was established that has made that goal a tough one to achieve.
Even when it was first created, there were questions about whether the $42.5 billion allocated for BEAD would be enough money to close the broadband gap. Throw in inflation, tariffs, component shortages and increased competition for key resources like fiber into the mix and you can see how the math that worked five years ago no longer might. It’s this failure of calculus that could lead even more providers to decline to sign their final BEAD agreements or – as some have begun warning – default on finalized commitments.
For those who remember, defaults plagued the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) program, with more than a third of the $9.2 billion in allocated funding ending up left on the table. It’s not a stretch to think the same could happen with BEAD.
But even in a best-case scenario, it seems there will still be gaps left to fill. An October analysis by New York Law School’s Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute of FCC broadband maps and broadband program found that just over 1 million locations could remain unserved. It also found nearly 200,000 locations have been left out of the BEAD program due to other program commitments but could fall through the cracks if defaults in those programs occur.
The good news is that there’s plenty of leftover funding – around $21 billion – that could be used to fill the gaps. The bad news is that the industry is still waiting for the government to specify how that money can be used.