Two and half years of work were in the books. Preliminary awards were made. Then last month, the federal government announced changes to a $42 billion Biden-era broadband expansion program.
“It’s been a very busy month,” said state Broadband and Digital Equity Director Alyssa Kenney, who administers the program in Wisconsin for the Public Service Commission.
Signed into law in 2021, the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program, also known as BEAD, sent about $1 billion to Wisconsin. It aimed to connect every American household and business to high-speed internet using fiber-optic cables.
In Wisconsin, that means connecting about the last 8.9 percent of the state’s homes and businesses, according to a state document. Unconnected locations are concentrated in northern, central and southwest Wisconsin.
Kenney’s office divided the state into units of under-served households and fielded bids from internet companies for each one. It made hundreds of preliminary awards.
On June 6, the government ordered states to revoke those awards and redo the application process under new rules it said would connect households more quickly and cost-effectively.
Now, states must be neutral between bids for fiber-optic, wireless or satellite internet.
“Removing the preference for a single technology will bring the full force of the competitive marketplace to bear and allow American taxpayers to obtain the greatest return on their investment,” the government’s press release said.
States must choose “the combination of project proposals with the lowest overall cost.” Since projects can be interconnected, Kenney said, that doesn’t necessarily mean choosing the cheapest project in every location.