Slower Network Operators, Fixed Wireless Seen as Big BEAD Beneficiaries

Cable operators not providing 100/20 Mbps speeds and fixed wireless access operators will be among the broadband equity, access and deployment program's biggest beneficiaries, speakers said during a Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers/Light Reading webinar Thursday. In addition, installers and equipment providers can anticipate "a very busy [next] four years," Morgan Lewis communications lawyer Andrew Lipman said.

Opening the 6 GHz band for fixed wireless access will make gig-capable fixed wireless far more available in the marketplace, said Bill Baker, CEO of Texas fixed wireless and fiber operator Nextlink Internet. That in turn will make slightly slower fixed wireless broadband tiers financially feasible for states to employ in their BEAD plans, he said. The need to use fixed wireless as a BEAD option is driven in part by rising interest rates and higher costs of building networks, he said. A 25% match on a project costing $10,000 per passing is "hitting the upper bounds of what anyone would be willing to invest" per passing, Baker said.

Another financial issue for potential BEAD providers is the state of the affordable connectivity program (ACP), Lipman said. Eliminating the ACP or tightening its eligibility requirements could affect state BEAD plans for addressing unserved and underserved areas, as state plans often assume a permanent ACP contribution, he said.

Speakers said states are taking a wide array of approaches on BEAD implementation items. Consultant Ralph Brown, formerly CableLabs chief technology officer, said rather than adopting a single threshold for the extremely high cost category, Colorado -- with its diverse geography -- is looking at regional thresholds for different parts of the state. Baker added some states are allocating money that their broadband offices will use as they help subgrantees cover the financial match requirement, thus enabling fiber to stretch a little further into higher cost areas.

BEAD surprisingly remains on schedule, Lipman said. He said the bulk of the money will likely be released to states in Q1 or Q2 2025, after NTIA approves final proposals.

When states are awarding subgrantees' bids, there will be a "a lot of localism, a lot of home-team advantage," but only if operators fully document and demonstrate their qualifications, Lipman said. Major nationwide providers will be active in BEAD bidding, but potentially less so than a lot of people assume, he added.

This fall's presidential election shouldn't affect BEAD, Lipman said. Most money is going to red states and districts, and there isn't a danger of congressional clawback, he said. Yet ACP is more politically vulnerable, he said, pointing to some Republican pushback to funding the program further. Other connectivity programs like E-rate are among "the few bipartisan areas left in Washington," he said.