The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program was meant to bring affordable, reliable internet to every corner of America—and the smartest way to do that isn’t with a one-size-fits-all fiber mandate. While fiber is an excellent option, it isn’t always practical or cost-effective. States that embrace an “all of the above” strategy, including satellites and fixed wireless, are taking a more flexible, taxpayer-friendly approach that can connect people faster, at lower cost, and without wasting billions trying to dig fiber to the most remote corners of the country.
Louisiana recently revealed its revised plan for the required public comment period, intending to run fiber to 80 percent of locations covered under BEAD funding. That is down from the 95 percent under the proposal crafted under the Biden administration.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX was the big winner in the revised plan, with the satellite provider set to receive $7.7 million in BEAD funds to service 9 percent of the eligible Louisiana locations. Under the original proposal, SpaceX was set to provide broadband to just 2 percent of locations. Despite the more than fourfold increase, SpaceX argues it should have received more funding.
A revised plan presented by Virginia told a similar story, with that state planning to provide fiber to 81 percent of eligible homes and businesses under BEAD, with SpaceX and fellow satellite provider Kuiper tapped to connect 10 percent of locations.
These were among the first states to provide initial proposals under the Biden administration and continue to be the early ones out of the gate under the revised guidelines. All states were supposed to file their final proposals by Sept. 4 with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is expected to review and approve the documents within 90 days.
“We carefully designed and ran a process as part of our ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ award round to minimize costs, maximize results, and prioritize projects that can be easily scaled with the necessary capacity to support real-time emerging needs and long-term demands,” Louisiana broadband office Director Veneeth Iyengar said in a statement, as reported by Broadband Breakfast. “I am pleased to share that this process worked.”
The NTIA issued new guidance for June in BEAD, eliminating the explicit preference for fiber placed on the program under the Biden administration. That opened up using other technologies, such as satellite and fixed wireless, to bridge the digital divide.
The alternative technologies are also generally cheaper, and the results are already evident. For example, Louisiana reported that the average cost to serve a location under BEAD has dropped from $5,300 to $3,900 because it plans to use less fiber. The state’s new proposal saves $250 million over its initial proposal, leaving it with $855 million left over from its initial allocation of $1.355 billion.
Also noteworthy, the total count of BEAD-eligible locations dropped from 140,000 during the initial bidding round to 125,000 for the revised proposal. This tracks with a study by the Advanced Communications Law and Policy (ACLP) Institute at New York Law School that found unserved or underserved locations have decreased by 57 percent across the United States since BEAD allocations were set in 2023. ACLP compared data from 46 states’ challenge processes to determine the decrease (New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas have yet to make their challenge process data available to the public).
While the decrease in the use of fiber is one reason for more people being connected, the drop in eligible locations is due primarily to private providers connecting more areas of the country prior to any BEAD money being sent to the states. The stark decrease in locations eligible for BEAD demonstrates the folly of the $42.5 billion in taxpayer money allocated to the initiative. Louisiana had originally intended to use its leftover BEAD money on initiatives such as digital skills training and precision agriculture equipment, but the NTIA rescinded non-deployment usage of BEAD funds in June. The Trump administration says new guidance will be forthcoming.
The sharp drop in eligible BEAD locations only underscores what taxpayers suspected all along: this $42.5 billion program was grossly overfunded. Private providers were already making real progress without government interference, proving that the market moves faster and more efficiently than bureaucrats with blank checks. Instead of finding new ways to waste leftover BEAD funds, Washington should admit the program’s excess and return unspent dollars to the Treasury. Taxpayers deserve a refund—not another round of waste disguised as broadband expansion.
