BEAD’s Buried Fiber Will Add Millions of Utility Locates to a Strained 811 System

Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program projects will deploy 271,782 miles of buried fiber, 57.5 percent of all BEAD fiber miles. Before burying that fiber, internet service providers will have to make sure they do not disrupt other infrastructure that might already be in the ground. To do this, ISPs will have to navigate the utility locate process, which hinges on owners of that infrastructure—typically electric, water, and gas utilities; municipalities; and other state or local entities—knowing where their lines are buried and accurately marking them. Based on Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute analysis of available data, BEAD’s buried fiber will generate about 1.4 million 811 locate tickets. Each ticket notifies several utilities, for about 8.1 million facility-locates. Service drops to individual homes and businesses, not the fiber route itself, account for 67 percent of facility-locates.