Nuances of the NTIA BEAD Notice

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s recent Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program Notice changed the BEAD grant process to focus almost entirely on awarding the grant funds to the internet service provider that asks for the least amount of funding for a given location. But there are some other interesting changes in the Notice for ISPs to consider. 

• Grant Areas: ISPs no longer have to stick to the grant serving areas that many States tried to dictate. A few States want grant applicants to apply for entire counties. Others forced ISPs to file for areas that combined highly rural areas with more dense areas. This is an opening for fiber ISPs to pursue smaller areas that make financial sense.
• Prevailing Wages: Some States were demanding prevailing wages. The new rule says that States should make sure that a grant applicant is complying with federal labor and employment laws, but can’t layer on extra requirements after that.
• Data Caps: NTIA eliminated the "Consumer Protections" section of the Notice of Funding Opportunity. With those restrictions lifted, we’re bound to see grant winners implementing data caps.
• Wholesale Access: NTIA eliminated the “Interconnection Requirements and Wholesale Access” section of the NOFO. This is an interesting change because every federal grant program I can think of requires grant winners to sell wholesale access to the network to other carriers. The primary intention of the wholesale access requirement was to allow rural networks to gain middle-mile transport through grant funded networks—something that is vital in rural America. 
• Low-Cost Option: ISPs still have to have one low-cost broadband option—but the States can no longer dictate the rate.
• Environmental Reviews: Eligible entities are now required to NTIA's Environmental Screening and Permitting Tracking Tool. This forces a new role on State Broadband Offices.