BEAD and Vendors

It’s clear that the new National Telecommunications and Information Administration guidelines for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program will both significantly pare down the overall outlay from the $42.5 billion BEAD grant program and also will reduce the amount of the grant funding that will be used for fiber construction. Any shift away from fiber will have a definite impact on fiber cable vendors like Corning, CommScope, Lightera, and Prysmian. Fiber vendors love rural projects like BEAD since low population density means a lot of miles of fiber are needed. Losing a lot of BEAD won’t badly hurt these vendors, but they’ll definitely notice the hit. The impact of BEAD on fiber electronics vendors is also significant. The recent increase in AT&T’s planned passings will largely offset any impact from losing BEAD fiber customers. However, there will be a negative impact on the electronics vendors that specialize in serving rural internet service providers. These aren’t the only impacts of a shift away from fiber. Large ISPs deal directly with vendors, but a lot of the smaller ISPs that might win BEAD buy most electronics and other construction materials through supply houses—and a shift in BEAD from fiber will hurt these companies. Makers of huts and cabinets will see noticeably less demand.