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Broadband Bytes, April 2025 Issue 1

This edition of Broadband Bytes includes: Supreme Court hears USF, BEAD news reaches consumers, Former BEAD Director warns of shift from fiber focus,  So You Want BEAD to be Tech Neutral?, State legislators request status quo on BEAD, Tariff impact on BEAD?, Tariff impact on supply chain outside of BEAD, Analyzing Telecom’s workforce shrinkage by the numbers, Amazon LEO Sat Launch, Viewpoint: Why BEAD presents foundational questions for states and cities.Funding, Network Expansions, M&A: Starlink to Acquire Google Fiber, NY MIP $50M Grant Program, BAM Broadband CO Fiber Expansion, NOVOS Fiber $130M+ AZ Fiber Investment, Brightspeed goal 5 million connections, NC $22M ARPA Grants, Nextlink Fiber Expansion TX, TDS Fiber Expansion Grant County, WI.1. There’s Still Hope for the USF, but No Easy Fix. This week, the Supreme Court heard arguments about the Fifth Circuit's decision that the USF’s funding method is unconstitutional. While it’s by no means certain, New Street Research Policy Analyst Blair Levin said the current USF framework is “more likely than not to be upheld.” The bigger question is what happens next. Read more.2. BEAD News Reaches Consumers. Read more.3. Former BEAD Director Warns Against Straying from Fiber Focus. Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite connectivity will not offer the same price relief for consumers compared to fiber, according to Evan Feinman, the NTIA’s former director of the BEAD Program. Feinman warned that rural Americans would “get less and pay more” with satellite connectivity versus fiber. Additionally, he said the BEAD Program’s emphasis on state-crafted proposals has allowed states to decide the technology mixtures that best suit them, with factors like geography playing in. Read more4. Related to the Above: Article by Jessica Dine, a Policy Analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute and Wireless Future Project, “So You Want BEAD to be Tech Neutral? BEAD Should Use All Technologies, but Not All Technologies Are Equal.” Talk about tech neutrality largely centers around the inclusion of two technologies that generally offer lower quality service than fiber home internet provides: fixed wireless broadband and LEO satellite service. These technologies typically cost less to deploy. But maximizing the utility of these funds means comparing more than upfront deployment costs. In the long run, it’s unclear how much money we would save by relying on satellite service in place of fiber—or if we would even save at all. A fiber connection has far more capacity and a useful life of several dozen years, while a LEO satellite’s lifespan is closer to five. Investing in fiber where it’s feasible might save replacement costs down the line. Read more.5. More Legislators Request Status Quo for BEAD. A group of bipartisan state legislators representing 28 states signed a letter asking U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to permit the NTIA to allow state BEAD plans and digital equity programs to proceed without delay. Any program changes should be optional rather than mandatory, the letter added, because mandatory changes could undo the signees’ BEAD and DE plans and delay broadband deployment by more than a year. Read more.6. Will Tariffs Impact BEAD Deployments? An Industry Expert’s Opinion. Thanks to BABA Act regulations, the new tariffs announced by President Trump are likely to have only a modest impact on broadband deployments associated with the BEAD Program. That’s according to Dr. Nathan Smith, the Director of Economics and Policy for Connected Nation. BEAD funds were already subject to BABA restrictions for most BEAD network components. “As a result, the additional impact of the new tariffs on BEAD costs is modest.” Smith, however, warned that indirect effects from the tariff announcements could still produce impacts (ie, on labor and capital). Read more.7. …But Outside of BEAD, Tariff Impact on the Telecom Supply Chain Could Be Worse. Trump’s new reciprocal tariffs on China, Vietnam and other countries will raise the price of telecom equipment, analysts said. “Tariffs will certainly raise the price of equipment needed for telecommunications,” said Jason Miller, professor of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University. The U.S. is “very reliant” on the imported goods needed for those systems to function. Read more. (ED Note: President Trump put a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs on April 9, 2025.)8. Analyzing Telecom’s Big Workforce Shrinkage. Fierce Broadband compiled and analyzed the employee, revenue and profit figures for eight operators. There didn’t appear to be a direct link between the financial metrics and employee count. Analysts said AI, automation and restructuring have had more of an impact on the telecom workforce. Read more.9. With all the talk about Starlink…Amazon’s Project Kuiper to Launch 27 Satellites April 9. April 9 is a launch day for Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet initiative. The company will conduct Kuiper Atlas 1 (KA-01), which is the deployment of 27 satellites 280 miles above Earth. Amazon says that Project Kuiper aims to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to “virtually any location on the planet.” KA-01 will be followed by about 80 launches that will carry more than 3,200 satellites into space. Read more.10. Viewpoint: Why BEAD Presents a Foundational Question for States and Cities. By Richard Watts, Chief Commercial Officer, International Fiber Alliance.  “If we are to treat broadband as essential infrastructure, then we must ensure that public BEAD investments result in long-term public value.” A smart model: Public ownership + private operation. Read more.FUNDING AWARDS, FIBER EXPANSIONS1. Starlink to Acquire Google Fiber in $22B Deal. SpaceX’s satellite broadband service Starlink, announced that it would acquire Alphabet’s Google Fiber for $22 billion. The deal is pending review by the FTC. Google Fiber will be renamed Fiber X, according to an announcement by Starlink. Read more2. New York Starts Next Phase of Broadband Grant Program, With $50M Available. The state of New York has launched the 4th phase of the New York Municipal Infrastructure Program (MIP) Request for Applications, which will provide nearly $50 million available to support broadband infrastructure projects across the state. Applications will be accepted through April 25.  The fourth phase of the program boosts the total funding to nearly $300M, using funds from the U.S. Treasury Capital Projects Fund. Read more3. BAM Broadband’s Fiber Network Expansion in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Will Continue Through 2025, reaching thousands of additional homes, businesses, and multi-dwelling units (MDUs). The project, which began in 2024, is part of BAM’s larger expansion efforts in Arizona and Colorado. Highlands Ranch, located in Douglas County, has a population of over 100,000. Read more.4. Novos Fiber & Prime Fiber Announce $130M+ Arizona Fiber Internet Investment. NOVOS Fiber announced its largest investment to date in the city of Phoenix, Arizona, where construction is underway. It is the sister arm to Prime Fiber, a wholesale open-access provider currently deploying fiber infrastructure in Florida. Both businesses are backed by InLight Capital, a private investment firm based in Sugar Land, Texas. Read more.5. Brightspeed Changes Goal, Aiming for Five Million Connections. Brightspeed has expanded its original goal to reach 4M homes and businesses, announcing its new corporate goal of 5M connections. The company announced that its network is now available to more than 2M of those potential customers. Along with its investment in its fiber network, Brightspeed has received more than $240 million in local, state and federal broadband grants and funding, including the company’s first BEAD Program award from the state of Louisiana. These investments will help expand Brightspeed’s planned network build by nearly 121,000 locations in 14 states. Read more6. North Carolina Announces $22 Million in Broadband Grant Awards. The money comes from the state’s Completing Access to Broadband program, funded by $400 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. The new projects are set to get broadband to 10,810 locations across 14 counties. Brightspeed will be serving the lion’s share of those locations—more than 8,300—with regional provider SkyBest securing 805 and a local electric cooperative scoring 576 locations. Read more.7. Nextlink has announced 4 fiber expansions in Texas this year. Nextlink Internet, with a headquarters in Hudson Oaks, has so far in 2025 announced construction that will reach nearly 10,000 locations. Read more8. TDS to Expand Fiber Network in Rural Grant County, Wisconsin. TDS Telecommunications LLC (TDS®) has broken ground on a new fiber-optic infrastructure project to connect more than 1,200 rural Grant County, Wisconsin, addresses. TDS’ Farmer’s Telephone Company was awarded more than $1.55M by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin in late 2023 to bring fiber-to-the-home connections to more than 800 Grant County addresses. TDS is investing $7.1M to complete the project and also reach approximately 400 additional addresses in the area. Read more.     Broadband Bytes is a regular feature by David Levine of UCL Swift. David is a graduate of Northern Illinois University, a certified BICSI RCDD,and a 35-year industry veteran in fiber and copper solutions.He currently works as a Business Development Manager for UCL Swift.

Apr 24, 2025