-
NTIA is slowly approving states’ initial proposals for the BEAD program
-
States have plenty of bureaucratic hoops to jump through with their challenge processes
-
They must also figure out how to manage their BEAD plans without ACP
The journey states are taking for the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program is a bit like how Dorothy and friends traveled the yellow brick road in Wizard of Oz.
And they’re facing just as many obstacles (minus the witches).
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has said 2024 will be “the year of execution” for BEAD. But the agency still has a ways to go in approving initial proposals for each state and territory. Louisiana was the first to get its plan approved in December. Since then, Kansas, Nevada and West Virginia have been the only states to get the greenlight to start their grant programs.
So, what’s the hold up?
Joanne Hovis, president of CTC Technology & Energy, thinks we’re about to see a wave of approved initial proposals in the next few weeks. But at the same time, NTIA has “a lot on [its] plate” and for states, “the real work is still ahead.”
“I think everybody has been somewhat surprised by how long it has taken,” Hovis said during a Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) webinar this week. “56 states and territories, that’s a lot of volume. I think we have to give NTIA some credit.”
At CTC, Hovis has led teams that advised the statewide broadband networks in Colorado, Maryland and Pennsylvania. She also leads the firm’s advisory work regarding federal broadband programs like ReConnect, the Connect America Fund and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
She noted every state and territory was required to submit volume two of their initial proposals by December 27 - and they did. Once all the proposals came in, NTIA began what the agency calls “curing,” which is “their review and their requests for changes where they believe it’s necessary for compliance with the law.”
Right now, most states are undertaking the map challenge process, where they give residents an opportunity to correct inaccuracies in the state’s broadband map. And that’s “very different to how states have run their grant programs in the past” with application challenges, Hovis said.
The challenge process is “a pretty lengthy process too,” given states need to process the challenges, rebuttals and then report the results to NTIA.
“It’s important that none of the grant programs, even once they have approval of initial proposal volume two, none of them launch until the state has completed their challenge process…even if the state feels that it’s ready,” she explained.
And that’s not the only bureaucratic hoop states have to jump through.
Once states finish their mapping challenge processes, they can start their grant programs. But then, NTIA must approve the results of that challenge process via its curing.
“They can’t finish their grant programs, they can’t stop taking applications until they have final approval of the outcome of the challenge process from NTIA. And what we are hearing is that is also a lengthy process,” Hovis said.
No easy replacement for ACP
When NTIA first published its BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity in May 2022, participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) was outlined as a key requirement for BEAD subgrantees.
Obviously, times have changed. The ACP is on its last legs, though Congress is trying to give the program a last-minute lifeline via a regulatory reauthorization amendment.
States are attempting to address the lack of ACP through ISP programs for low-income households, said Hovis, but the reality is there’s “no way to easily replace” the program.
“It is very hard for a state to say, 'well, we’ll just replace those dollars.' Nobody has that,” she said. “This is not going to be one of those good budget years for states.”
Hovis added most companies that are mulling their BEAD strategies have likely already taken ACP out of the equation. Because even if ACP did get extended, “it would probably be something they couldn’t count on in the long run.”
If ACP wasn’t in the precarious spot it’s in now, we’d likely see “much more attractive proposals from bidders in poor, rural areas.”
More NTIA guidance to come
During the webinar, FBA President Gary Bolton mentioned NTIA plans to release new BEAD guidance on the utilization of alternative, non-fiber optic technologies.
Asked whether the new guidance could disrupt states’ BEAD plans, Hovis said she doesn’t think NTIA’s priority for end-to-end fiber will change, but it's “helpful to get more guidance.”
NTIA could provide “more detail about how [it] wants non-fiber technologies to be evaluated, more detail in particular about where it is okay to use satellite…there’s still a lot of question marks in that regard.”
It would also be useful to know “how NTIA wants states to evaluate coverage and capacity for purposes of fixed wireless,” she concluded.