August 29, 2024 – ACA Connects, in partnership with Cartesian, today submitted comments with Texas’s Broadband Deployment Office (BDO) supporting allowing broadband service providers the flexibility to define Broadband Access, Equity, and Deployment (BEAD) project areas in order to maximize the program’s efficiency and deployment of fiber to eligible locations.
The comments were submitted as Texas is in the process of defining project areas for its $3.3 billion in BEAD funding to expand broadband connectivity to underserved and unserved locations. The comments offer analysis supporting BDO’s initial proposal to solicit bids on a per-location basis, which allows applicants to design their own project areas. The analysis further explains that, should BDO decide against per-location bidding, it should define project areas at the census block level and permit applicants to customize project areas by aggregating census blocks.
Key excerpt: “It is important that project areas are defined such that Eligible Entities can deliver fiber broadband cost-effectively to as many unserved and underserved locations as possible. Defining project areas granularly – such as at the location or Census Block level – will maximize participation from prospective bidders and best ensure that ‘fiber-viable’ locations actually receive fiber, especially if the very highest cost locations are removed and treated separately.”
ACA Connects’ comments follow a recent request for comments issued by NTIA on proposed guidance regarding the use of “alternative technologies” to connect BEAD-eligible locations when “reliable” broadband technologies are not available. As the comments highlight, by defining project areas with flexibility and efficiency, States and Territories can maximize fiber deployment and lessen the need for these “alternative technologies” as a last resort.
ACA Connects White Paper: “BEAD Program: Defining Project Boundaries”
Published August 29, 2024
About ACA Connects: America’s Communications Association –America’s Communications Association – ACA Connects is a trade organization representing more than 500 smaller and medium-sized, independent companies that provide broadband, video, and phone services covering 31.9 million households, 7.3 million of which are located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America. ACA Connects Members operate in every state, providing advanced communications to connect homes, companies, main street, schools, hospitals and more. America’s economic prosperity in smaller communities and rural areas depends on the growth and success of ACA Connects Members, who believe a connected nation is a prosperous nation.