BEAD update through July 2025

With substantial changes to the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program under the new leadership of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the Department of Commerce and the presidential administration, Eligible Entities have been pulled back to square one for selecting subgrantees. One massive cause of the delays was the "Benefit of the Bargain" round, which required all Eligible Entities to eliminate the preference for fiber players, in favor of the most economical, lower-cost provider regardless of technology.

The delays have been persistent, considering how internet service providers spent millions of dollars to participate in each state's BEAD program to secure supplies, technicians, partnerships and permits.

Essentially, the new BEAD program is technology-agnostic. The benefits are clear in the short term, such that costs may be reduced since there is no priority to deploy fiber in regions with unattractive economics. Areas with sparse populations can look forward to fixed wireless and satellite providers instead, hence theoretically shortening the time these underserved areas can get stable connectivity versus shovel-heavy fiber.

However, long-term stable internet access for all is arguably the central tenet of the BEAD program. Network congestion, brought about by bandwidth-intensive applications and more users simultaneously using their internet connection, will be a heavy-hitter for spectrum-based internet. The limited spectrum allocated for fixed wireless access and satellite technology may not be enough to keep up with growing consumer needs, especially with the adoption of AI in every aspect of connectivity. Telcos such as Verizon and AT&T Inc. have clamored for Congress to open more spectrum auctions for this exact reason.

Nevertheless, satellite and fixed wireless broadband are much easier to use to enter rural markets. Their cost to pass a home is at least 25% cheaper than what a typical fiber passing cost would be. However, if the demands for high-speed, low latency and affordability are prioritized, then fiber stands as the most competitive technology in the long run. Fiber's main differentiator is its lightning-fast upload speeds that can go up to multigigabit tiers.

For example, Google Fiber offers an 8 Gbps symmetrical broadband package for residential users. While the regular household would not necessarily need that kind of connectivity, the growing number of heavy gamers and tech engineers with multiple smart connected devices inside the home could necessitate more than 1 Gbps uplink and downlink, something that is not difficult for a fiber network.

In our list, consumers would see fiber as the most value-for-money option with a little over 10 cents per megabit, symmetrical speeds and the least latency.

Access data in Excel format.

Satellite and fixed wireless subgrantees are bound to receive more funds with the suspension of non-deployment funds. These were mainly targeted to ensure that post-construction, communities would be guided to digital inclusion in areas such as telehealth, cybersecurity, support for anchor institutions and many others.

Other new developments in the BEAD program include:

• imposing data caps;
• terminating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; and
• removing preferential treatment for nontraditional providers and enforcing neutrality among more traditional players (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, et cetera).

US Broadband & Pay TV Trends is a regular feature from S&P Global Market Intelligence Kagan.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.