The great BEAD monitoring challenge

Over the next 12 to 18 months, the vast majority of the $40 billion or in broadband deployment funding that U.S. Congress enacted in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will have been allocated to specific internet service providers (ISPs) for specific projects. Unless something goes wrong, all the roughly 6 million to 7 million BSLs targeted by the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program will be included in some BEAD project. But the hardest part of the work will still lie ahead. For ISPs, that's the actual construction and operation of the broadband networks that will deliver universal broadband coverage throughout America. For state broadband offices, that's paying for and monitoring the coverage. State broadband offices need to distribute the BEAD funds, not all at once but as reimbursements or milestone-based fixed award subamounts. Then, they need to make sure the promised networks actually get built on time and to specs. Or, if not—and you can’t expect 100 percent success on the first try—states need to apply appropriate accountability and skillfully correct course.