Wireless Industry Asks States to Be Flexible With BEAD
Wireless industry groups urged state broadband offices not to lock themselves into fiber through a threshold required by NTIA’s broadband equity, access and deployment (BEAD) notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). The Wireless Infrastructure Association, Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, National Association…
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of Tower Erectors, Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association sent letters Wednesday to broadband offices in all states and territories, WIA said. The NOFO requires states and territories to set an “extremely high cost per location threshold” (EHCT), and if the state receives a fiber proposal with a per-location cost below that line, it must choose it over a non-fiber alternative, the associations noted. “If not properly set, the EHCT could become an early pitfall to achieving the right mix of technologies by limiting a state’s flexibility in spending its BEAD allocation,” they wrote. “An inflated EHCT could leave a state short on funds for critical deployment and non-deployment priorities.” Too high a threshold could stop states from using fixed wireless, which “are just as reliable as wireline options, are faster to deploy, and can often simultaneously enable the delivery of critical mobile broadband capacity in areas currently lacking these services to further promote digital equality,” the wireless groups said.