What you need to know about the new BEAD rules

The deed is done. NTIA has officially rewritten the rules of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, essentially forcing states back to square one on their plans to address the digital divide. As anticipated, the new notice of funding opportunity nixed the BEAD preference for end-to-end fiber. The notice now defines a “priority broadband project” as one that provides service at speeds of no less than 100/20 Mbps with latency less than or equal to 100 milliseconds. Further, NTIA said it “hereby rescinds all Final Proposal approvals that occurred prior to the publication of this Notice.” This includes proposals from Louisiana, Nevada, and Delaware, the states that have already announced which providers will receive BEAD funding. All states and territories have 90 days to comply with the new NOFO, which also requires them to conduct at least one additional subgrantee selection round (dubbed “Benefit of the Bargain”) to ensure the lowest-cost broadband option, “regardless of technology employed.” With BEAD funds shifting away from fiber to more fixed wireless access and low-earth orbit satellite, “there is a distinct possibility that in many places wireline enterprises simply will not bid,” said New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin.