Wireless group raises new BEAD concerns

The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) raising concerns that multiple states will fail to reach all unserved locations by funding fiber over other technologies. The concern comes as the NTIA is working on approving initial proposals for how each state and territory will conduct its Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) grant program. As WISPA raises in its letter, several states have indicated in those proposals that "a planned over-reliance on funding fiber infrastructure is likely to exhaust BEAD funds before all unserved and underserved locations are connected." Among the states of concern, WISPA references proposals from Maryland, California, Minnesota, New York and North Carolina that suggest their allotted BEAD funds may not be able to cover 100 percent of their unserved and/or underserved locations with fiber. In addition to concerns from WISPA, another trade group – ACA Connects, which represents small and independent cable providers – released data showing that 6.4 million unserved and underserved locations are expected to be eligible for BEAD funding, for which there are enough funds to connect "at least 71 percent of eligible locations" with fiber.