- The factor most affecting the timeline is that NTIA must sign off on each state’s BEAD eligible locations
- But there are still plenty of things state broadband offices can be working on to prepare for the application process
- 75% of the scoring that will determine BEAD sub-grantee winners are factors that have been pre-determined by NTIA
We’re in the thick of the process to distributed $42.5 billion of government funds to companies that will ultimately win Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds. But Fierce Network wanted to know exactly where we are in that process right now. So we checked in with Carol Mattey, a former deputy bureau chief with the FCC who now works as a broadband consultant.
She said a handful of states, that are early in the game, are allowing pre-qualification applications for BEAD grants. Some of the states doing this include Missouri, Montana, Wyoming and Louisiana. State broadband offices that are taking pre-qualification apps are asking for basic information about the history of the company, key management personnel, financials and past broadband experience.
The part that applicants can’t yet do is write the narrative for specific locations they want to bid on said Mattey. That’s because BEAD-eligible locations have not been announced. The most important thing impacting the timeline is that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has to sign off on each state’s list of eligible locations that come out of their mapping challenge process.
Nevertheless, state broadband folks still have plenty of things to keep them busy. There are parts of the eventual application that people can work on, such as writing about their fair labor strategy, their supply chain and their climate resilience plans.
“Those are discrete things that applicants can do in advance because it’s not tied to a specific geographic area,” said Mattey. “Companies can and should have in their mind a sense of the areas they’re going to apply for and can be working on the description of their proposed projects.”
Since none of the states have opened their grant application windows, it’s unknown what the actual applications will look like. To make it more complicated, each state’s application will probably be different. “How much of this is narrative documents as opposed to uploading stuff into a system of pre-populated fields is unknown,” said Mattey.
A lot of states are hiring contractors to help them set up their BEAD application portals. “There are a number operating in multiple states, but not all states have the same contractor,” she said.
While small operators can probably wait to work on their grant applications when there’s more clarity, large operators have already staffed BEAD teams to closely monitor everything at the state level in their footprints. These large operators will try to manage their BEAD applications with a template. But the templates will need to be flexible, depending on the scoring rubric that each state has chosen.
A lot of the scoring rubric is pre-determined by NTIA
Seventy-five percent of the scoring that will determine BEAD sub-grantee winners are factors that have been pre-determined by the NTIA.
The biggest factor is cost. State broadband offices will be favoring bids that require the least cost to the government. The other two pre-set factors are affordability (what rate will the sub-grantee charge for its services) and fair labor practices.
The remaining 25 percent is more subject to state discretion and can reflect what the state prioritizes, subject to NTIA approval.
“At the end of the day, most of the points come back to what’s the price the company says they’ll do it for,” said Mattey. “There’s no narrative that can dress that up to make it look prettier.
Currently, Republicans have been complaining that the Biden administration is layering too many requirements into the BEAD process.
“Some people are saying, ‘I’m not going to particulate in this because there’s too much regulation,’” said Mattey. “But how much of that is bluffing? Of course, service providers are going to threaten to not participate, but at the end of the day, will they absolutely flat-out refuse to do it?”
She noted that it would be risky for a service provider that is underserving a particular area with broadband to allow another company to win BEAD funds and overbuild the locale.
