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  "description": "As states complete their broadband spending plans, a fight is brewing over the remaining $21 billion.",
  "path": "/what-to-do-with-remaining-bead-funds-a-k-a-non-deployment/",
  "publishedAt": "2025-12-11T20:39:34.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "_****One Carr driving the Federal Communications Commission****_",
    "_****Two superpowers racing toward AI superintelligence dominance****_",
    "_****Three branches of government (and some formerly independent agencies)****_",
    "_****Four programs with Universal Service Funds****_",
    "_****56 states and territories without digital equity grants****_",
    "_****Less than 6 months for a broadband permit****_",
    "_****Data center-powered electricity bills up 70 percent****_",
    "_****800 megahertz of spectrum to sell at auction****_",
    "_****$9 billion + 12 billion (or $21 billion) in BEAD remaining funds****_",
    "_****Not even $10/month for an affordable connectivity program****_",
    "_****Through BEAD and broadband, 110 million locations served****_",
    "_****More than 1200 megahertz of spectrum for unlicensed wireless****_",
    "_****Click to read each of the 12 Days of Broadband articles!****_",
    "_budgeted $510 million_",
    "_earmarked roughly $200 million_",
    "_first addressing its workforce shortage_",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "_Editor's Note: Published on Dec. 11, 2025; republished on Jan. 3, 2026._\n\nThe Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program's $42.45 billion was never just about laying fiber (or offering wireless or satellite service).\n\n#### 12 Days of Broadband 2025 (click to open)\n\n  * _****On the First Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****One Carr driving the Federal Communications Commission****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Second Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Two superpowers racing toward AI superintelligence dominance****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Third Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Three branches of government (and some formerly independent agencies)****__****.****_\n  * _****On the Fourth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Four programs with Universal Service Funds****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Fifth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****56 states and territories without digital equity grants****_.\n  * _****On the Sixth Day of Broadband, my true level sent to me:****__****Less than 6 months for a broadband permit****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Seventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Data center-powered electricity bills up 70 percent****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Eighth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****800 megahertz of spectrum to sell at auction****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Ninth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****$9 billion + 12 billion (or $21 billion) in BEAD remaining funds****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Tenth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Not even $10/month for an affordable connectivity program****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Eleventh Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****Through BEAD and broadband, 110 million locations served****_ _****.****_\n  * _****On the Twelfth Day of Broadband, my true love sent to me:****__****More than 1200 megahertz of spectrum for unlicensed wireless****_ _****.****_\n\n\n\n_****Click to read each of the 12 Days of Broadband articles!****_\n\nWhen Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021, it explicitly authorized states to use BEAD funds beyond infrastructure deployment: Workforce development, digital literacy training, broadband adoption programs, connecting community anchor institutions, device subsidies and cybersecurity education. States spent two years planning how to leverage these so-called \"non-deployment\" dollars – now just “remaining funds – to ensure that new networks would actually translate into connected communities.\n\nFor example, Louisiana _budgeted $510 million_ for telehealth expansion, precision agriculture training through LSU's AgCenter, and digital skills programs in correctional facilities. Florida _earmarked roughly $200 million_ for workforce development, recognizing that its deployment goals depended on scaling up the labor pool. Maine's broadband authority argued it couldn't build infrastructure without _first addressing its workforce shortage_—and that non-deployment investments needed to proceed in parallel with construction.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "What to Do With Remaining BEAD Funds, a.k.a 'Non-Deployment'?",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-11T05:41:34.106Z"
}