Viewpoints
BEAD’s Benefit of the Bargain round is just the beginning of multi-generation broadband investment, according to Gary Bolton, CEO of the FBA.
By: Gary Bolton, President and CEO, Fiber Broadband Association
As I compose this at the beginning of September, the revised state and territorial proposals for the additional “Benefit of the Bargain” round of BEAD are being announced. Fiber continues to be the premier choice for most states as they move forward to connect the millions of unconnected households across the country.
On LinkedIn, Wes Robinson, Director of Regulatory Affairs at Eastex Telecom Cooperative, has been posting running tallies and analysis on a near-daily basis as to how states are investing in broadband in terms of the technologies being selected, as well as providing data on the number of locations and dollars being allocated to service providers who have stepped up to the plate.
A snapshot of BEAD
His snapshot on August 26 showed, of the states submitting their final proposals, 67% of eligible BEAD locations will be served with fiber, with low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite getting 18%, fixed-wireless access (FWA) getting 8%, ULFWA getting 2% and hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) getting 5% — the last number could also be fiber, because the cable industry as a whole is deploying fiber from end-to-end in greenfield solutions.
Having received a deadline extension from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Texas and California will be the last states to submit their final proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, so we won’t have the full BEAD picture until November at the very earliest, and possibly later if there are award protests on a state level or if other changes are required by NTIA.
It is easy to see why West Virginia, with its mountains, thick forests, and sheltered valleys, has opted to cover 94% of its BEAD locations with fiber, lacking the clean lines of sight needed for radio-based solutions such as fixed wireless and satellite. In addition, state broadband offices also continue to recognize the need for fiber to support anchor institutions such as schools, libraries, hospitals, and public safety, all of which require high-speed, low-latency, secure, and resilient connectivity to perform their essential functions in the communities that they serve.
BEAD won’t be the final act
But BEAD will not be the last word for connecting America’s unconnected and upgrading our vital telecommunications infrastructure to 21st Century standards that the nation requires.
There are many places and areas where work and funding will need to be applied to make sure everyone can reap the fullest benefits of high-speed, low-latency broadband in today’s digital society, and more reasons than ever before that connectivity is an essential utility.
For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is now requiring disaster survivors to register for federal aid using an email address, according to a WIRED report, and plans to transition distribution of funds from paper-based systems to digital payment methods. This is a high hurdle for seniors and households who have had little or no exposure to the internet. It’s just one of many essential federal, state, and local government services that is being migrated away from paper forms and printed checks to websites and electronic disbursements.
Potential uses for leftover non-deployment BEAD funds
Certainly, the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD round has accomplished its primary goal to deliver taxpayer savings, but what should be done with the leftover non-deployment funds?
There are several distinct categories for state-based broadband investment that could benefit from the remaining “non-deployment” BEAD funding. Workforce development is certainly an ongoing national need to build and maintain America’s telecommunications infrastructure, especially with the large numbers of technicians retiring over the next five years.
There are communities that have clearly defined needs for better broadband but fell between the cracks, such as the 1.9 million U.S. households that are in the pool of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) vendor defaults and not eligible for BEAD because they were to be covered by RDOF.
Addressing the gaps BEAD will leave behind
We need to proactively address the areas and households that have fallen through the cracks through no fault of their own, such as the RDOF vendor defaults pool. In the interim, state broadband offices will have to be vigilant to make sure all bidding BEAD vendors perform to the specifications in their grant awards.
Surplus BEAD funding can provide additional benefits by fueling the AI revolution to stimulate economic growth, further lowering the cost of connectivity. More middle mile investment is vital, as evidenced from the last NTIA Middle Mile Grant Program, which awarded $1 billion but had over $4 billion in grant applications. Adding more middle mile will be needed to support and enhance the construction boom of new data centers being built around the country where sufficient power is available. In addition, more middle mile will boost national infrastructure resilience, expand local cellular coverage, and provide improved access and increased competition for rural broadband, lowering the costs of broadband delivery.
Read more from Gary Bolton, CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association:
Review your Ps for faster—and cheaper—fiber construction (August 2025)
Another option for utilizing non-deployment BEAD funds to lower cost and improve latency would be continued incentives and/or investments in internet exchange points (IXPs) outside of traditional urban centers.
Too often, mid-sized cities are having to backhaul traffic to larger ones rather than exchanging that traffic locally, with the firms sometimes literally across the street or around the corner, resulting in higher data costs and increased latency. Increasing IXPs would lower both cost and latency for service providers and their customers.
Digital skills gaps still need to be bridged
Finally, the digital skills gap isn’t going away. BEAD funding for non-deployment uses needs to be unlocked and supplemented by BEAD’s Benefit of the Bargain round savings.
At risk populations will still need digital navigators and training to become fully independent participants in today’s information-based society with broadband needed to access government services, telehealth, apply for jobs, and use financial services.
Paying the bills is rarely done with a checkbook and stamps and is mostly now done online.
Looking at the long-term operating networks in high-cost areas continues to be a challenge, as well as providing lifeline services for low-income consumers, the E-Rate program for schools and libraries, and supporting rural health care providers.
Provisioning the Universal Service Fund (USF) on a sustainable basis is also something that has bipartisan support in Congress and it should be a priority in the years to come.
Investing in quantum networking will lead to ‘revolutionary’ advancements
Additionally, we need to start to invest more in a key technology of the 21st Century — quantum networking.
While AI gets all the headlines, continued quantum advancements will be truly revolutionary, leading to such things as improved pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing, a new generation of medical imaging, and better routing for trucks and aircraft. Unlocking the benefits of quantum technologies such as security, sensing, and computing will require fiber, new hardware and software, and a workforce equipped to take full advantage of it all.
As BEAD starts to connect the unconnected and underserved, we all need to recognize that for many communities and households, the current Benefit of the Bargain round is just the beginning of multi-generation broadband investment with fiber as the foundation.
Continuing to upgrade our national telecommunications infrastructure with fiber is far from being a “one and done” task, but instead is something we will have to continue to develop and improve in the years ahead.