- Fiber broadband deployers are focused on monetizing their investments
- New factors such as tariffs, war and supply chain shortages are affecting their bottom lines
- They’d like to see NTIA use the $21 billion in BEAD non-deployment funds to assist existing projects
MOUNTAIN CONNECT, DENVER — The theme of this year’s broadband conference in Denver might be summed up as: “How are we going to monetize all the fiber broadband that we’re deploying across the country?”
Three years ago, the Mountain Connect conference in Denver was bursting with excitement and enthusiasm. State broadband offices were either completing their final Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) proposals, or they were actively reviewing bids from sub-grantees. The talk was all about “putting shovels in the ground.” And there was a keynote interview with SpaceX’s President Gwynne Shotwell, which turned out to be eerily prescient.
Last year at Mountain Connect, the vibe was definitely deflated. The Trump Administration had changed the rules for final proposals, and state broadband offices were rushing to re-do all their paperwork.
But this year, all BEAD final proposals (with the exception of Illinois) have been approved, and operators as well as state broadband offices are finally entering the deployment phase of fiber broadband projects. Now, the question on everyone’s mind is how to make these projects profitable.
And it’s a concern because a lot of things have changed in the past couple of years.
Speaking on a panel at Mountain Connect yesterday, Elizabeth Bowles, CEO of Aristotle Unified Communications, said, “Nobody built in the cost of tariffs. Nobody built in the cost of war in the Middle East. Nobody built in the data center suck-up of silicon chips or whatever.”
Bowles said Aristotle is seeing surcharges on the supplies it’s ordered for BEAD. “When we bid, we got quotes from our vendors, and we bid actual quotes,” she said. “And those quotes are not worth the paper they're written on today because every one of those vendors has either raised prices or is charging a surcharge.”
Bowles would like to see some BEAD non-deployment funds used for existing costs that are quantifiable and for which the increases are not in the power of the service provider. “I think that's a very good use to repurpose some of the non-deployment funds,” she said.
There’s about $21 billion of BEAD funds leftover after the Trump administration began favoring low-cost projects with technologies such as low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite and fixed wireless access (FWA), as opposed to the more expensive projects using fiber. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has been stalling on making a determination about how to spend the leftover monies — known as non-deployment funds.
Service providers who are building BEAD projects are also concerned about their matching contributions. BEAD generally requires at least a 25% non-federal match, and many winning bidders are contributing more, especially since the 2025 restructuring favored proposals with higher matches. But if a project’s costs far exceed the original estimates, providers are having to match more.
Aquiles Trujillo, deputy director with Connect New Mexico, said “We all have leftover money we don’t know what to do with. I’d like to use it 1) for match, and 2) I’d like to put a fund together to cover these cost overrides."
“We have designed these programs to help the providers. Our hope is that we can go back and address some of these shortfalls,” said Trujillo.
Fierce spoke with Render Networks CEO Stephen Rose on the sidelines of the Mountain Connect show. Render provides a software intelligence platform to help operators build, deploy, operate and maintain their networks. Rose said, “It’s clear this year the biggest concern is about the monetization of the technology. The sensitivity analysis of these business cases is being tested.”
Related articles:
SpaceX’s Gwynne Shotwell says Starlink is very interested in BEAD
NTIA approves California’s final BEAD proposal
NTIA chief says 2 states have deployed BEAD dollars – but not for fiber