Broadband Advisory Council outlines BEAD deployment progress and $500M in proposed non-deployment priorities

The Broadband Advisory Council on Thursday heard updates from state broadband staff on federal BEAD-related deployment and a plan for how roughly $500 million in non-deployment (digital equity and adoption) funding could be spent.

Office of Broadband presenters said deployment activity for fiscal years tied to BEAD has accelerated: staff reported an increase of roughly 12,000 locations in prior BEAD funding years and said FY23 awards and contracts are starting to move, prompting a shift from annual to quarterly performance reporting to track milestones, expenditures and emerging project risks.

"We have built out over 135,000 locations over the last 2 years," a presenter said, summarizing recent deployment work and the rationale for continuing to track project performance more frequently. Staff estimated about 131,000 locations will be eligible for the BEAD program in the state and said awards are expected to be announced in spring 2025 with projects beginning in 2026.

Why it matters: the state is balancing fast-moving deployment requirements with a parallel federal allowance to use some BEAD funds for programs that increase adoption, resilience and long-term access. Presenters framed the non-deployment dollars as a one-time federal investment that should emphasize sustainability and complement infrastructure spending.

Staff briefed the council on four priority areas the state plans to advance with non-deployment funding: expanding cellular coverage, improving per-unit connectivity in multi-dwelling units (MDUs), funding statewide digital adoption partnerships (libraries, Cooperative Extension and other agencies), and targeted funds to reach locations missed in mapping or unreachable by planned technologies.

On cellular coverage, staff cited mapping work showing about 9,200 locations with effectively no cellular voice connectivity and another roughly 45,000 with poor data performance. The presenter said cellular expansion is a top non-deployment priority because it can improve emergency communications and economic opportunity in areas where in-home broadband remains unavailable.

On MDUs, the presenter described the difficulty of mapping individual units under federal rules and proposed programs that would ensure per-unit quality speeds in apartment buildings, with particular focus on low-income housing.

On adoption, staff described partnerships with libraries and the Virginia Cooperative Extension to create digital navigators, train-the-trainer models and cost-share programs (for example, to help farmers adopt precision-agriculture tools). The office reported it has worked with roughly 29 agencies to identify projects, narrowed proposals through workshops and now has about 28 projects across 15 agencies under active consideration.

Budget and process details: staff said a $30 million make-ready program is available for some FY20–22 projects, that monthly reporting will collect delay reasons (make-ready, railroad crossings, easements) and that the office currently calculates an average award per mile in the mid-teens of thousands of dollars (about $17,000–$18,000 per mile), with underground-intensive counties approaching the program maximum of $30,000 per mile.

Staff also reported they received 46 letters of intent from providers for the BEAD application window and that the full application opened Dec. 1. Applications must cover at least 95 percent of addresses in a ZIP Code Tabulation Area to receive evaluation points, the presenter said, and the office plans a public-comment period on its final non-deployment proposal before submission for federal approval.

Council members raised implementation and policy concerns. One member asked for more detail on the cellular proposals and the potential for public funds to compete with small incumbent telcos; another requested metrics to ensure rural libraries receive sufficient digital-navigator staffing. A senior member urged the council to seek an update from the solicitor general about litigation and to examine cases where roadway work has damaged taxpayer-funded broadband assets.

"There is some concern that we are using taxpayer dollars to go, then it can be dismantled," a council member said, urging staff to explore liability and policy options. Staff acknowledged the issue and recommended a future discussion.

Votes at a glance: the council approved the meeting minutes by voice vote during the session and later moved to adjourn; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript excerpt.