ACLP: Over 1 Million Locations Could Remain Unserved by BEAD
More than 1 million locations could remain unserved once BEAD is completed, even as states and territories are likely spending only about $21 billion of the $42 billion they have been allocated, New York Law School's Advanced Communications Law and Policy Institute (ACLP) said in a pair of reports last week.
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The reasons for locations remaining unserved post-BEAD include some defaults on BEAD grants, which are likely given the high costs to reach some locations, ACLP said. Other challenges cited were the many "small and untested" ISPs receiving funds and the use of unproven technologies in many project areas. At least 196,000 locations have been excluded from BEAD due to “enforceable commitments” from other programs, which could be subject to default, the institute noted. It also said more than 1 million locations appear to be unserved based on FCC data but aren't covered by BEAD or commitments from other federal programs. At least some locations have been erroneously excluded, though the exact number won't be known until the projects are complete, ACLP added.
ACLP's second report said that, based on the 49 states and three territories that have issued some version of their final BEAD proposal, an average of 47.3% of their total allocations are being used for broadband deployment. If that holds true for California and the remaining territories, the leftover BEAD funds would total $21.6 billion, it said.
ACLP called for some leftover money to be put into a broadband resiliency fund that would underwrite such costs as utility pole replacements, public safety and emergency responder network modernizations, and system hardening in areas prone to outages. The institute also suggested that some surplus BEAD funding could be used to create a grants program to support digital literacy or AI preparedness efforts.