AT&T, Charter have biggest BEAD opportunity

AT&T and Charter Communications are best positioned to benefit from the multi-billion-dollar Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program based on state-by-state allocations and the presence of each operator in those states, reckon analysts that have broken down the numbers. "The larger the presence an operator has in a state with a sizable allocation of BEAD funding, the greater the opportunity there is for it to see benefits from a build-out near its existing footprint and fill-in additional pockets across its DMAs [designated market areas] with edge-outs," the analysts at ISI Evercore surmised in a research note. "In that context, we highlight that AT&T and Charter over-index to states that received the lion's share of BEAD allocation." Broken down further, AT&T and Charter have 33% and 27%, respectively, of their residential broadband subscribers in the two top BEAD states – Texas and California – ISI Evercore pointed out. Comcast will also have a "meaningful opportunity for subsidized edge-outs," and could look to aggressively bid in parts of Texas, Michigan, Washington, Florida, and Illinois, where it already has a foothold. AT&T, Charter and Comcast have all signaled interest in participating in BEAD in some shape or form.