Joan Engebretson

Industry analysts and observers have been pooh-poohing SpaceX’s satellite-based mobile service ambitions since the company boasted about those plans on its earnings call.

We sometimes hear the term “burning soul” in connection with big goals. Big goals need burning souls—people who are passionate about the goal; good at articulating why you should be, too; and willing to put in the hard work to achieve the goal. Take ubiquitous broadband, for example. People who read Telecompetitor tend to share this goal: to get high-speed broadband to as many people as possible in order to better peoples’ lives. Some people who share this goal are what I would consider burning souls.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) doesn’t appear to have made major changes to states’ award recommendations in the Benefit of the Bargain round in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program—at least not based on analysis of NTIA award approvals for several states. NTIA made relatively small changes to the award recommendations that Louisiana and Maine submitted in the Benefit of the Bargain round. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is not making any changes to awardee lists that have been approved by NTIA.

When the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) revealed several weeks ago that its changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program would include cost thresholds, the state of Colorado had reason to be concerned. “We know Colorado is expensive,” said Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office.

Brian Allenby, chief operating officer for Maine Connectivity Authority, is optimistic about the state’s revised award recommendations in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program.  “We’re hoping it will be the final awards list,” he said. The list is almost the same as what the state sent to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for approval prior to the September 4 deadline. The main difference is that NTIA did not allow the state to award funding for certain locations.

Most states have released their recommended awards in the Benefit of the Bargain round in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program. The total value of the award recommendations for those states is less than half of the initial allocations, according to a Telecompetitor analysis. The initial allocation for the first 45 states was about $32.8 billion. The total value of the award recommendations for the states is about $15.2 billion, or about 46 percent of the initial allocation. Changes to BEAD rules imposed in June are a key reason for the results.

Without fanfare, the state of Virginia released its list of award recommendations in the “Benefit of the Bargain” round of the Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

Louisiana has released its updated Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program final proposal for public comment. It is based on the state’s Benefit of the Bargain round conducted under the new program rules and includes a revised list of proposed funding awardees. The next step is for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to approve the final proposal, which will finalize the awardees. Perhaps the biggest question on the industry’s mind is about the impact of the new BEAD rules on the broadband technology mix.

Prime Fiber has begun construction of an open-access network in Sun City (AZ) that will be used by AT&T. It’s the latest reminder of AT&T’s broad strategy to expand fiber broadband availability. AT&T is building open-access networks of its own through its Gigapower joint venture with investment firm BlackRock.

When the National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced changes to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, the state of North Carolina had not yet begun accepting applications for funding. According to Angie Bailey, North Carolina director of broadband infrastructure, it will be challenging to meet the new deadlines that NTIA has imposed. “It’s a big lift with the timing window,” she said.