LEO Nabbing 'Meaningful' Share of BEAD: Quilty Analyst
Low earth orbit satellite has a "slim but strategically meaningful portion" of BEAD awards, Quilty Space analyst Kimberly Siversen Burke wrote Friday. SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon Leo combined account for slightly less than 5% of all awarded dollars, or roughly $1 billion, but they cover about 20% of total BEAD locations, she said. It's a mistake to tally BEAD awards by technology "as if they were interchangeable solutions."
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Looking at states' data, the approximate pricing for Amazon Leo works out to about $750-$800 per location for the roughly 395,000 disclosed BEAD locations, while Starlink is about $1,500-$1,600 for roughly 462,000 disclosed locations, according to Burke. That reflects BEAD scoring mechanics, not satellite economics, she said: When states emphasize reliability, readiness and demonstrated performance, Starlink is akin to an incumbent, while Amazon Leo has no established commercial customer base and limited operational history and must compete more on variables like price.
Burke added that SpaceX's BEAD strategy is "territorial defense" as it blocks territory from subsidized fiber overbuilding down the road. For Leo, "BEAD offers the fastest route to legitimacy, trust, and a state-validated presence it needs as it ramps toward commercial service."