The Divide: How ACA Connects sees BEAD funds rolling out nationwide

ACA Connects' Brian Hurley joins the podcast to discuss the group's BEAD funding framework – a national analysis of how far funding from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program will go, and a state-by-state breakdown of how those funds can be used for fiber.

Nicole Ferraro, Editor, host of 'The Divide' podcast

March 28, 2023

At a Glance

  • Background on the report and the model used to determine BEAD allocations (2:26)
  • Why ACA Connects' model indicates that BEAD funds will be "sufficient" (6:57)
  • Exploring estimated BEAD allocations for Texas (9:23), California (16:10) and Alaska (18:51)

This week: Brian Hurley, chief regulatory counsel for ACA Connects, joins the podcast to discuss the trade group's BEAD funding framework: a report offering a national analysis of how far funding from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program will go, and a state-by-state breakdown of how that money can be used to deploy fiber broadband.

We discuss takeaways from that report, and what it reveals for certain states. We also talk about policy priorities for ACA Connects in the lead up to BEAD funds being allocated this summer.

Here are a few topics discussed in this episode:

  • Background on the report and the model used to determine BEAD allocations (2:26)

  • Why ACA Connects' model indicates that BEAD funds will be "sufficient" (6:57)

  • Exploring Texas' estimated BEAD allocation (9:23)

  • Exploring California's estimated BEAD allocation (16:10)

  • Exploring Alaska's estimated BEAD allocation (18:51)

  • Why the continuation of the Affordable Connectivity Program matters for BEAD (22:22)

  • ACA Connects' policy advocacy in the lead up to BEAD (26:00)

For an unedited transcript of this conversation, click the caption button on the video player above.

Read more about:

The Divide

About the Author(s)

Nicole Ferraro

Editor, host of 'The Divide' podcast, Light Reading

Nicole covers broadband, policy and the digital divide. She hosts The Divide on the Light Reading Podcast and tracks broadband builds in The Buildout column. Some* call her the Broadband Broad (*nobody).

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