Updated Analysis Estimates 1.1 Million Locations Could Remain Unfunded After BEAD

Using the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadband Funding Map and state Broadband Equity Access and Deployment program Final Proposal data, the Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute estimates that approximately 1.1 million locations without 100/20 Mbps service will remain unfunded after BEAD awards. 

• According to the FCC’s Broadband Funding Map, 3,379,711 locations across the U.S. are currently without 100/20 Mbps terrestrial service.
• After accounting for BEAD awards, 1,101,356 locations without 100/20 Mbps service remain unfunded. When the number of units at a location is factored in (e.g., apartment units in a building), 1,342,667 units remain unfunded.
• Of the remaining unfunded locations, approximately 53.8% are “underserved” (have 25/3 Mbps service but not 100/20 Mbps).
• According to BFM data, 33.7% of BEAD locations already have 100/20 Mbps terrestrial service (wired or fixed wireless), suggesting that BEAD may involve overbuilding beyond the 20% allowed for in the program rules.
• This updated analysis underscores the need for a BEAD Reserve Fund, which the ACLP first proposed last October. Using remaining BEAD dollars to seed a Reserve Fund and deploying those resources as part of a second round of BEAD would ensure that the goal of the program is realized: that as many unserved and underserved locations as possible receive broadband service via BEAD.