California Submits BEAD Proposal That Relies Heavily on Fiber and Satellite
California's final BEAD proposal, submitted Friday to NTIA, reaches more than 340,000 eligible locations -- more than any other state's plan -- said Maria Ellis, director of broadband initiatives for the California Public Utilities Commission, at the agency's meeting Thursday. CPUC voted unanimously to approve the submission, and Ellis said deployment work could start in the second half of 2026.
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"This is California securing historic federal funding to serve communities that have been left behind for way too long," CPUC President Alice Reynolds said.
While the deadline for BEAD final proposals was Sept. 4, NTIA told us California received a waiver. According to NTIA's BEAD progress dashboard, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have yet to submit their final proposals. Broadband officials for the two territories didn't comment Friday.
Along with California and the two territories, 15 states and the District of Columbia are awaiting NTIA approval of their final proposals, according to the tracker. NTIA said it's committed to completing reviews within 90 days of submission.
California's $1.86 billion allocation was smaller proportionately to some other states with fewer eligible locations or less-challenging topography. Ellis said. But California "was able to do more with less."
More than 43% of the state's BEAD locations will be served by fiber, using about 86% of its deployment funding, Ellis added. About 15% of eligible locations will get fixed wireless, accounting for about 3% of deployment funds, and about 40% of locations will be served by low earth orbit satellite, using about 10% of the funds. The state received more than 7,500 applications from over 40 broadband service providers, she noted.