Broadband Director Explains How Colorado Expects to Fund BEAD Fiber

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. “We knew this was going to be a topic of conversation.” The award recommendations that the state submitted to NTIA based on the new rules — commonly known as the Benefit of the Bargain — call for just over 50% of locations to be served by fiber or fixed wireless, with the rest going to low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, according to Connected Nation. About 47.6% of the Colorado BEAD total is slated to go to fiber. Fiber’s share decreased from what it would have been before rule changes eliminated an initial preference for fiber technology. The fiber percentage could have been even lower, however, if the state of Colorado hadn’t intervened and opted to cover some project costs. The state contributed $51 million toward project costs, including $35 million to enable fiber projects to come in under the $19,000-per location threshold that NTIA set for the state. The remaining $16 million went toward matching funds. Awardees were required to cover at least 25% of total projects; for some projects, that would have been difficult or impossible without the state’s help.