State Broadband Offices have seemingly aligned to put pressure on the federal government to get the BEAD awards made and the construction process started this year. While there might be a few exceptions, most State Broadband Offices have accelerated the grant review process and are either ready to make BEAD awards now or soon will be in a position to do so.

This is an interesting strategy because it seems to be coupled with getting State and local officials to lobby for a rapid conclusion of the grant process. County Boards and governors have been asking federal elected officials to let the BEAD process play out.

This is not to say that folks don’t want to see some changes in BEAD. For example, there are popular ideas in the federal SPEED for BEAD Act that would make it easier for ISPs to build. Those kinds of changes could be incorporated into BEAD contracts with grant winners without slowing down the process. Grant Offices and local officials fear a total reshuffling of the rules will force States to start the process all over again. If the decision at NTIA is to change grant scoring metrics, then it probably means changing the BEAD Volume 2 rules and having ISPs file all over again for the BEAD grants. It’s hard to imagine that a change like that won’t add six months to a year to making grant awards and would kill the chance of any broadband construction in 2025.

One of the most convincing things I’ve seen on the topic is a letter published by Broadband Communities Magazine. The letter was written by Josh Etheridge, the Co-Owner of EPC, a fiber construction firm. He pleads with officials to release the BEAD funding in Louisiana and says that delays have already forced him to start laying off some of his 160 full-time staff and an equal number of subcontractors. He makes the convincing argument that BEAD money ultimately gets spent supporting jobs in local communities – which was the stated purpose of the IIJA legislation that created BEAD.

NTIA says it will hopefully be ready to provide new guidance on BEAD around mid-May. So far, everybody associated with the NTIA BEAD process has been completely noncommittal about what changes might be coming. The only thing of substance that has been hinted at is that BEAD awards ought to be more technology-neutral to cut down on amount of grant funding needed. It’s that statement that has the whole industry on edge and on hold.

The BEAD grants were allocated to States in an extremely uneven manner since money was allocated using faulty FCC maps. Some States have enough BEAD money to mostly fund a fiber solution, as has been done in Louisiana. But even there, some of the money went to alternate technologies to serve remote locations. Other states are going to have to make substantial grants to non-fiber technologies to make the numbers work.

Broadband Offices and State and local officials all want to see the grant funding awarded to their states to build as much fiber as possible while still assuring that all BEAD-eligible locations get some better broadband solution. I think the big fear is not only that more funding will go to satellite, but that ‘excess funds’ will be reclaimed by Treasury and not spent on broadband. The phrase ‘once in a generation’ funding has probably been used too often for BEAD, to the point that people don’t really hear what it means. States are doing a magnificent job of spreading the BEAD money to bring as much public benefit as possible – and they are all asking to be left alone to finish the job.

We’ll find out in a few weeks if the strategy of plowing forward will be convincing. It’s certainly the fastest way to turn BEAD grants into construction projects.