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  "description": "The state is opening a new round of bidding for 12 percent of its BEAD locations. SpaceX did sign a contract with the state.",
  "path": "/amazon-two-local-isps-back-out-of-bead-in-nebraska/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-26T16:17:31.000Z",
  "site": "https://broadbandbreakfast.com",
  "tags": [
    "a Friday release",
    "data posted by",
    "The Nebraska Examiner",
    "has already connected",
    "Connected Nation tally",
    "a memo"
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  "textContent": "WASHINGTON, May 26, 2026 – Nebraska is reopening bidding for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program after some tentative grant winners refused to sign contracts with the state.\n\nThe Nebraska Broadband Office said in a Friday release it would publish a new map outlining the 1,735 remaining eligible locations in the coming weeks. NBO said its new round would aim to “promote competition between internet providers with a focus on quality and end-user experience.”\n\nThe three BEAD participants in the state that didn’t sign contracts appeared to be Amazon, Northeast Nebraska Telephone Company, and Pinpoint Communications. Those companies were left off the state’s list of seven ISPs that did sign their contracts, and they were collectively awarded 1,733 locations according to data posted by the broadband office.\n\nSatellite operator Amazon was awarded the most locations of the three at nearly 1,500, according to state data.\n\nThe companies that signed contracts with the state will cover about 88 percent of Nebraska’s 14,000 BEAD locations, NBO said Friday. The seven include satellite ISP SpaceX, plus Nextlink, Vistabeam, Stealth, Mobius Communications, Hamilton, and Tribal ISP Quick Current-Nebraska.\n\n“Throughout each application round, we've gained valuable insight into how project areas can be structured more effectively,” **Patrick Redmond** , deputy director of NBO, said in a statement. “By refining project areas based on real-world lessons learned, we expect to improve efficiency, reduce overall program costs and create a smoother process for applicants — all while maintaining our focus on delivering high-quality, reliable broadband service to Nebraskans.”\n\nThe release did not say when the new bidding round would open or close.\n\nAn NBO spokesperson said in an email the agency wasn't confirming the companies that backed out, but didn't dispute the three Broadband Breakfast listed.\n\nThe agency told The Nebraska Examiner Friday that the three ISPs that backed out had done so “due to changes in their business plans,” but also declined to name the providers.\n\nNebraska was planning to spend just $44.6 million of its $405 million BEAD allocation on deployment projects. The awards to ISPs that signed contracts with the state total $39.5 million. Nextlink is set to serve a majority of the locations at nearly 8,000.\n\nVistabeam has already connected a Nebraska customer on fixed wireless infrastructure funded by BEAD, which it said earlier this month was the first such connection in the country. The company is set to serve 7,400 Nebraska locations with a mixture of fixed wireless and fiber with $16.8 million of the state’s BEAD funding.\n\nOf those that refused to sign, Pinpoint, was awarded the most at $2.6 million, followed by Amazon at $2.3 million and NNT at just $150,000.\n\n### _Satellite ISP contracts_\n\nSpaceX has asked state broadband offices earlier this year to sign a contract rider that would exempt satellite providers from certain performance testing requirements. The request was publicly shot down by Commerce Secretary **Howard Lutnick** and in an FAQ document from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.\n\nSpaceX had said in a letter that it could be “untenable” for satellite providers to participate in BEAD without some modifications to the program’s rules, but it ended up reaching a deal with Nebraska.\n\nAmazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why it refused to sign papers with Nebraska. After Trump administration rule changes aimed at fostering satellite participation, about 23 percent of BEAD’s 4 million nationwide locations are set to be served by Amazon or SpaceX, according to a Connected Nation tally.\n\nSpaceX is in line to receive $739 million to serve 476,000 locations. Amazon had put in even lower bids and tentatively won $312 million to serve 417,000 locations. The program is set to spend about half of its $42.45 billion budget on deployment projects, and NTIA guidance on how states can use their leftover cash is still pending.\n\nStates are now in the process of hammering out BEAD contracts and beginning environmental reviews and early construction.\n\nNTIA circulated a memo earlier this month urging ISPs not to sign contracts that allow states to skirt various BEAD rules like prohibitions on enforcing certain laws on participants. The agency’s FAQ has given the same warning to states, telling them not to allow broadband providers to avoid BEAD requirements.\n\n“You cannot contract out of a BEAD programmatic rule or requirement. There are no exceptions,” NTIA Administrator **Arielle Roth** said at an April event.\n\n_Update: This story was updated to add comment from NBO._",
  "title": "Amazon, Two Local ISPs Back Out of BEAD in Nebraska",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-26T21:47:05.501Z"
}