BEAD Spending in 2025

I’ve seen some vendors speculating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is finally going to unleash a big pile of spending in 2025. I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble, but even if the BEAD grants continue to move on the current path, there will not be a big wave of construction from BEAD this year. All bets are off on BEAD spending if the new administration pauses or majorly reworks BEAD. I’ve always predicted that no more than perhaps 5% of the BEAD money will be spent in 2025, although the current rush to get grants awarded could goose that little higher. I can already hear the booing from every vendor reading this—but there doesn’t look to be any easy way to get the plows in the ground.