D.C. Memo: Consultant Sees Few BEAD Projects in 2025

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BEAD: Citing a number of frustrations that will slow broadband deployment, CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson said he does not expect to see many BEAD construction projects starting in 2025. "To answer the question asked in the title of this blog -- When Will We See BEAD Construction? -- I see only a tiny fraction of BEAD construction happening in 2025. Perhaps a handful of states will find a quick path through these steps – but most will not," Dawson said. Writing on his Pots and Pans blog on Monday, Dawson had a long list of reasons to explain BEAD's sluggish pace. "The [NTIA] rule that is going to cause the biggest delays is that no grants can be awarded in a state until a broadband office has lined up an ISP to reach every unserved and underserved passing," he said. On his LinkedIn page, Dawson said his firm has more than 700 clients and the list included ILECS, CLECS, cable companies, ISPs, municipalities and wireless carriers. Only three states -- Montana, Louisiana, and West Virginia -- have started to accept grant applications for BEAD funding. "After three years of little happening other than paperwork, the NTIA is suddenly pressuring grant offices to rush through ISP selection – the one step of the whole BEAD process where caution should be taken. The BEAD rules are complicated, and grant offices should be taking the time needed to make sure that applicants really meet the rules and can do what they claim," Dawson said. Expect further delays, he said, because NTIA needs to sign off on all state awards, and then states and ISPs need to sign final performance contracts, which could involve last-minute haggling not to ISPs’ liking. "I foresee many ISPs and states getting at loggerheads over some of the BEAD requirements, and it won’t be shocking if some ISPs walk away from BEAD during the negotiation process," Dawson said. "I don’t think anybody knows what happens if an ISP walks away from a grant late in the process." And then many grants will require environmental impact studies. "Since all of the states are on a somewhat similar schedule, I expect there to be a bottleneck of the scientists and firms that do these [environmental] studies. Typically, no construction work can begin until the study is complete and accepted by a state broadband office," Dawson said.