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Intro:
The following program is brought to you by the Tennessee
Broadband Association.

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Lead Tennessee Radio, conversations with the leaders moving our
state forward.

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We look at the issues shaping Tennessee's future: rural
development, public policy, broadband,

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healthcare, and other topics impacting our communities.

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Andy Johns:
Thank you for listening to this episode of Lead Tennessee Radio.

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Our guest today is Brooke Coleman, who is the account manager
with Nokia for the state of Tennessee.

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Brooke, thanks so much for joining me.

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Brooke Coleman:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

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Andy Johns:
I'm your guest host Andy Johns with Pioneer.

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And on this episode, we're going to be talking about the BEAD
program and kind of getting the latest updates and timelines that

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are available.

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Brooke gave a session this morning at the Tennessee Broadband
Association conference here in Franklin, Tennessee,

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and updated everybody on the progress and in some areas, lack of
progress, but kind of everything going on the

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BEAD program. Brooke, let's start off with kind of defining.

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What do we mean when people say BEAD?

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. So it's a program of $42 billion that has, you know, kind
of been out there and around for the last few years.

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So folks have been talking about it, but things are really
starting to come to fruition.

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You know, I like to say the train has left the station and the
train is gathering speed as we go.

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The BEAD program stands for Broadband Equity Access and
Deployment.

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And like I said, it's $42 billion of federal funds.

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Andy Johns:
That's a lot.

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Brooke Coleman:
It's, you know, it's a couple of dollars here and there, but it
is the biggest funding program that we've had in this industry.

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So it's a big deal.

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It has taken a long time to get to where we are.

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But like I said, the train has left the station, and it is
federal funding coming down from the NTIA, which then goes down

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to the states, and the states have all been allocated a certain
dollar amount that they can then distribute to internet service

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providers, municipalities, electric co-ops, folks that provide
internet service to their communities.

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So, you know, at a high level, folks who are applying to this
program will need to provide service of

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100/20mbps. But fiber is a priority for this program.

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So we believe that, you know, majority, 80% of applications are
going to be fiber projects.

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Those areas that are really hard to serve and really high cost
will have the potential to be fixed wireless access or some other

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alternative technology.

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But we're really anticipating a lot of fiber projects to be
underway.

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Andy Johns:
I know a lot of folks will be happy to hear that, based on some
of the awards for RDOF and some of the other, you know, that

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fiber priority, I'm sure is big for a lot of folks.

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Brooke Coleman:
It is. It's very, very big for the industry.

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And, you know, really the the focus of this program is to
provide internet to all.

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And that's one of the challenges with this program is there's
going to be 5 or 10 locations here or there that need to be

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served. And those are the hardest to reach locations.

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So to serve those locations with fiber is going to be life
changing for some of these folks, to have that high speed

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internet access is going to be really important for them to
access modern day society.

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Andy Johns:
Now, the fascinating thing about this one, I say fascinating.

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For some, it could be frustrating.

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For some, you know, however you look at it, I guess.

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It's not one train leaving the station.

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It's really 50 trains leaving the station for every state.

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And then I guess some of the territories as well.

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So 50 plus trains leaving 50 plus stations on 50 plus different
timelines and schedules.

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I mean, it's all over the place based on I think you said
Montana and Louisiana are going to be some of the first states to

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open things up.

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And then it's going to be, it's a lot of money.

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So I don't want to say trickle, but I mean, it's kind of
trickling out over the next several months to even years.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. That's right. And that's a really good, good point.

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It is 50 different trains with 50 different paths.

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Every state has a different, you know, set of rules.

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They all sort of follow the same standard from the federal
level, but each state does have the flexibility to make

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individual changes.

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And those can be seen in the state's volume two's, which is
documentation that is out there for all the states, which brings

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me to the point that 40, we're sitting here, it's October 22nd,
and 49 –

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Andy Johns:
That's important because this stuff is changing.

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So by the time this comes out, it may be a little different.

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So as of right now, October 22nd.

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Yes. Good point.

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Brooke Coleman:
As of today, 49 states have been approved for their volume two.

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The one state that has not is, of course, Texas.

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Texas, being the special state that it is, is going to be the
last to get that final approval.

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But what that means is all of those 49 states will have 365 days
to submit their final

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proposal to the NTIA.

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That final proposal will need to have the proposed grant winners
in it before they can move forward with their

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BEAD projects. So we have a long road to go, but the road is is
getting shorter, and we can see the light at the end of the

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tunnel.

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Andy Johns:
There you go. All sorts of transportation metaphors, I like it.

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We'll stick with that. There is a little bit of difference
between states.

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We talked primarily at this conference here since we're at the
Tennessee Broadband Association, Kentucky Rural Broadband

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Association Joint Fall Conference, which is a mouthful, but
we're talking primarily about Tennessee and Kentucky.

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But generally speaking, folks will have a, you know, some kind
of letter or some way of indicating that they're interested in

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applying. And when I say, folks, I mean the broadband providers
after that initial piece there, that'll have to be approved, then

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they're sending, you know, specific areas that they're asking
for.

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All of those pieces once they're approved by the state as
winners, then that's when it goes into that plan that you're

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talking about. I know I'm oversimplifying it, but there's so
many steps to it before it ever gets to that plan that you're

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talking about, that the states will be sending on to the feds?

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Brooke Coleman:
Yes. Yeah. No. That's correct.

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And so a lot of states do have a pre-qualification period.

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Or in Tennessee, for example, they have that letter of intent
saying that you intend to apply to the BEAD program.

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This helps the broadband offices get prepared, understand how
many applications they can expect to see.

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If they can get folks pre-qualified, it helps get some of the
paperwork out of the way before the actual applications come in.

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But yes, then there's the application process.

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There's going to be a lot of negotiation back and forth to get
those final locations finalized, and then submit that

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documentation to the NTIA with the final proposal.

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You know, then give or take three months, the NTIA has to review
those final proposals, give their final blessing, and then once

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those final proposals are approved, then folks can, you know,
start moving forward with their projects.

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Andy Johns:
And I guess folks have been hearing about BEAD, at least those of
us who are in the industry, have been hearing about BEAD for a

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long time. And in some ways it feels like, well, we've still got
so much to do.

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What have they been doing for so long?

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Most of it comes down to mapping and then challenges to maps is
my understanding so far, right?

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Brooke Coleman:
Yes. The mapping challenge process has been a lot.

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A lot for the state broadband office, a lot for internet service
providers to provide all the correct data, and there's a lot of

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back and forth to try to get these maps right.

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And I know it's frustrating, but I think it's really important.

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It's critical that we get these maps right or else this program
isn't going to be successful.

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We have to provide internet service to all.

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That's the point of this program.

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But in order to know who those all locations are, we have to
have accurate maps.

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And it has been a challenge.

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But I think, you know, with every iteration and every piece of
documentation, they get better and better every time.

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And it will never be perfect.

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You know, there's going to be a neighborhood that pops up here
or there.

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There's going to be an abandoned farmhouse or an abandoned barn
that shows up as a location.

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It won't be perfect, but we need to do the best that we can in
order to make sure our taxpayer dollars get to do the job that

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they're meant to do.

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Andy Johns:
Sure, there's been a lot of discussion because the goal of this
is, as I understand, is both underserved and unserved folks, so

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that the folks unserved being they don't have any broadband
service at all.

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Underserved, meaning they have it, but it's not really up to the
standards that are outlined in this program.

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So is my understanding correct there, that this is for both
unserved and underserved and all that fits into the map?

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Brooke Coleman:
Yes, absolutely.

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So the first priority of the program is the unserved locations.

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So that is, you know, the state broadband office has to make
sure unserved gets served.

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Then the second priority is those underserved locations, which
is less than 100/20mbps.

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And a lot of states, I believe will meet those first two
priorities with the funds that they have.

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There may be 1 or 2 states that that's going to be a struggle.

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Probably Texas being one of them, as usual.

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Yes, they have the most amount of money, but they also have the
most high cost and the most unserved locations, which is why they

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have, you know, all of that money.

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But then, you know, the third priority is community anchor
institutions and providing gigabit service to those community

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anchor institutions.

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Andy Johns:
Such as schools?

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Brooke Coleman:
Hospitals, government buildings, those types of things.

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And then after that, shall a state be able to meet that
requirement, then the fourth priority is non-deployment projects

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like use and adoption.

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So you know there are some states North Dakota, some small
states up in the northeast that have fiber everywhere.

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Andy Johns:
Right.

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Brooke Coleman:
And their states are pretty well served.

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They only have a handful of eligible locations.

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So instances like that, you know, they may use the BEAD dollars
for those non-deployment projects.

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Andy Johns:
Interesting. And those non-deployment projects, obviously we're
probably talking about a small percentage there, but those can be

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things you said, like adoption.

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So that's education, that's, you know, trying to get folks to
take advantage of the fiber networks that's there?

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Brooke Coleman:
Exactly. And, you know, digital inclusion, making sure folks are
educated on the internet and how to use it, and to make sure that

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that folks are utilizing it in ways that make sense.

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Andy Johns:
Perfect. One of the other requirements, and I know that, as you
mentioned, there are certain federal requirements that have to be

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met by the states.

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And I don't know if we have a sheep sound effect or not.

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You had the picture of the sheep in your presentation, but one
of them is is BABA.

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Brooke Coleman:
That's right.

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Andy Johns:
Tell me a little bit about BABA.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. So it is not a sheep.

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Even though I think of a sheep every time that it gets brought
up.

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But BABA is Build America By America, and so that is one of the
compliance, you know, rules and regulations around this program

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is that is unique in comparison to other broadband programs of
the past.

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And folks that are applying to this program and that do get
awards will have to make sure that their equipment

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meets those standards.

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Now, there is a waiver that has been approved by the NTIA across
the board for this program, that there are some products that are

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waived, meaning they don't have to fulfill the BABA
requirements.

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And there are some products that do have to fulfill the BABA
compliance requirements.

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Andy Johns:
And when we're talking about products, we're talking about
individual components in the supply chain or in the pieces needed

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to build the network.

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Brooke Coleman:
Correct. Correct.

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So, you know, one example being the the electronics that are
needed for your network.

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The IP core equipment, you know, the IP edge and aggregation
gear routing and switching, that's

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waived. You do not have to meet BABA requirements for that.

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However OLTs, OLT line cards, optic pluggables and standalone
ONTs do need to meet

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the BABA requirements that are in the waiver.

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So there are a handful of manufacturers out there that have been
BABA certified.

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The processes of self certification, and the manufacturer has to
create and post a website that

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identifies which products are BABA certified and compliant and
with those part numbers.

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And the NTIA is is hosting a website that lists those vendors
and links to their website so you can figure out which products

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are BABA compliant.

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Andy Johns:
So I imagine the vendors are happy to help with that
documentation part of that too.

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That's not necessarily all on the, I mean, the liability may be
all on the side of the ISP, but the vendors I'm sure are happy to

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help provide that documentation and everything.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. So absolutely, the requirements for submitting, or the
documentation that's going to be required, is a BABA

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certification letter.

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Some states you'll have to submit that letter prior in your
grant application.

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Other states like Tennessee, you won't have to submit that BABA
certification letter until post award, until after you've been

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awarded funds.

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Andy Johns:
Like we said, 50 different trains, 50 different conductors.

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Everybody doing things a little bit different sounds like.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yes.

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Andy Johns:
Let's talk about the timelines.

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Now that we've talked about, you know, the components of some of
their requirements because those are all over the place a little

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bit as well.

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As I understand it, like we said, Louisiana, Montana are early
on.

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Tennessee and Kentucky, I won't say behind.

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I'll just say on a different schedule.

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Brooke Coleman:
Middle of the pack.

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Andy Johns:
Yeah, yeah. Because everybody's got, all the states are different
sizes, different amounts awarded.

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You know, they started at different times.

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But what are you seeing right now in terms of where are the
different states are?

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And then what that timeline even looks like once they do get
going?

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You know, it sounds like we're going to have some awards given
out, or at least announced as early as November

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for some of the states.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. So Louisiana, you know, for example, ever since the start,
they've always been ahead of the game.

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And we are anticipating in the next couple of weeks that they
will post their preliminary awards.

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So what that means is they outline who they intend to give the
grant funding to and what those projects look like.

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But those are preliminary because they need to be approved by
the NTIA and get that NTIA blessing before their, you know,

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official awards.

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But as far as timeline goes, you know, we're estimating that
Louisiana

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will issue their final awards in quarter one of 2025.

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Give or take, you know, approximately nine states will issue
their final awards by quarter two of 2025.

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And then, you know, the big chunk of the states, about 24
states, we anticipate will announce those final awards in quarter

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three of 2025.

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And that's just sort of based on when the state's final
proposals are due.

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There is a firm date out there.

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Louisiana, for example, is December 15th of this year of 2024.

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Their final proposal is due.

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So then, you know, add on three months for the NTIA to review
and approve that final proposal that gets us to where we want to

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be or to where that state is going to have those final awards
announced.

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And again, it's just a high level estimation based on that final
proposal date.

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But, you know, once final awards are announced, let's talk
Tennessee and Kentucky.

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That's quarter three of this year.

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It's going to, you know, be six months before, you know, things
can really start to happen.

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As we have all seen, this program is slow.

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It does take a lot of review and approvals before things can
happen.

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So I do think it's going to be 2026 before we really start
seeing the construction and these networks starting to be

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built.

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Andy Johns:
Now, what are you hearing from folks?

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I know that you work with a number of different broadband
providers here as well.

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You know, I had gotten the sense from some of the conferences
that, you know, there are states where it is fairly well built

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out. There are a lot of broadband providers that are kind of
landlocked.

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They built everywhere. That makes sense.

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There are other folks that it's, you know, the funding is
fantastic, but there are so many requirements to it that at least

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some folks earlier this year were kind of hitting the brakes.

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Some broadband providers were hitting the brakes on jumping in.

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What kind of participation rate or what are you hearing just in
terms of how many folks in the rural broadband provider, kind of

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the small and independent providers like are here at the
Tennessee Broadband Association?

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Are most folks getting in?

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Are folks a little hesitant?

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What are you hearing from folks?

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Brooke Coleman:
It's a mixed bag, I would say.

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But in the presentation this morning I was also curious about
that with this audience.

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So I put a poll out there and, you know, had an interactive
presentation and polled people and said, you know, is your

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company planning to apply?

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Yes or no? And the majority of the answers were yes.

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There were a few no's.

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So I think it's, you know, it's either yes, they're going all
in, and they're going to go for it.

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But there are a handful of folks who have said no, they are not
going to participate.

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It's not a good fit for them.

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And that makes sense.

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You know, you have to look at what's best for your business.

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And you know, what's the best business case for you.

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But I will say, you know, this is a lot of money.

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Somebody will get it.

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It may be you, it may be somebody else, but someone will go
after this funding.

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So it's also a strategic program.

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You know, if you go after this funding, you essentially block
out somebody else from going after that funding and getting into

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your territory. So you have to think about it strategically.

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But there are a handful.

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I want to say it was 15 folks said yes, and five said no.

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So the majority of folks are definitely looking at this program
to go after.

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So like I said, someone will get this money.

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Andy Johns:
I wouldn't necessarily say that's super scientific, but it's
something.

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So yeah, I think it definitely shows the there's interest.

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I'm glad you brought up the survey that you had because it was a
very nice, very nicely done.

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The way that the software you used with some live interaction
from the audience, one of the other questions is where I was

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going to go with the last question here.

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So let's spin it forward.

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We've got billions and billions of dollars coming out.

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Nothing like that happens without all kinds of ripple effects.

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Brooke Coleman:
Correct.

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Andy Johns:
One of the ones that you put up there was asking them about
concerns.

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I don't know if it was concerns, but kind of looking ahead at
2025, what were some of the things that were on people's minds,

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maybe worrying them, maybe not.

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As I remember the labor or workforce shortage was number one.

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Talk to me just a little bit about, and maybe it's getting,
maybe it's asking you to get the crystal ball out too much, but

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what are some of the things that we feel like is pretty safe to
assume the ripple effects of this are going to be over the next

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couple of years in the broadband space.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. And I don't know if we'll see the ripple effects in '25,
but I do think we'll start seeing the ripple effects in 2026.

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And you know, those are (1) workforce.

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You're going to, you know, we are a small industry.

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We're strong, small but mighty.

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But there's only so many folks out there who can, you know,
splice fiber and build these networks and engineer these

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networks. So when you're talking about billions and billions of
dollars and these, you know, massive projects that are going to

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go underway nationwide, there are going to be workforce
shortages.

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You know, that's been discussed since the start of this program.

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So I think that's why it's important to know where the other
states are at in the process, to know where your state, where

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your workforce, where your contractors are going to be.

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You know, in a trickle effect of that may be labor costs might
increase.

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There's going to be supply and demand is a real thing.

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You know, if you want your construction crew to build your
project by X date, you may have to pay them more in order to meet

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that deadline and to compete with the workforce in other states
and keep the people on your project.

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Another thing which we don't know if it will be an issue at
Nokia, we're hoping it won't be because we're trying to be

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prepared is supply chain.

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We don't want another 2020 repeat of supply chain.

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But you know, folks are going to need all of these materials and
equipment to build these networks.

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So you know, right now our factories are building up our BABA
compliant products and getting them made now

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in anticipation for the orders that are to come.

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But, you know, supply chain could be an issue.

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And I think both supply chain and workforce and labor cost
increase is something that's important for folks that are going

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to be applying for BEAD, but also folks that are not applying to
BEAD.

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You know, the work doesn't doesn't stop.

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Folks are still going to build networks, if they have grant
funding or not.

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But those who are not getting grant funding are still going to
feel the effects of the supply chain and of the workforce

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shortage.

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Andy Johns:
Yeah, and I think that's really interesting to get into because
like you said, you know, that's whether you're applied for this

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or not. I think I forget that we had two speakers today.

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One was from the Tennessee Broadband Office.

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One was from the Kentucky Broadband Office.

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And, they said, I can't remember which state, but there were 40
broadband providers who had

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pre-qualified to start projects if it's awarded.

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We know not all of them are going to get it.

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But I mean, even if half that get it, that's 20 significant new
broadband projects in the state, and just imagine what that does.

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Like you said, to the limited number of contractors and other,
you know, potential employees that can splice fiber or any of the

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other work to be done.

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That's significant just in these two states alone.

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Brooke Coleman:
Right. And that's, like you said, that's one train out of the 50
trains.

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There's 50 other trains that are moving at different speeds and
different paces.

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So depending on where your train is in the process is going to
depend on what resources, what materials you can get.

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So I think it's really important to be in touch with your
vendors, your contractors, your manufacturers.

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Make sure you are communicating and you have a plan in place in
order to be successful.

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Andy Johns:
I really think that communications piece, obviously I'm biased.

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This is a lot of what I do all day.

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But I think that communication piece is, is very important too,
because, you know, we've seen it before with RDOF and a lot of

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the other funding.

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When folks see the press release or the news story that says
their broadband provider has gotten 12 million, 6 million,

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$25 million to build fiber, they're going to expect them to have
it to their house by Monday.

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You know. So I think that's such an important piece to kind of
be talking about that and educating folks about just what a big

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challenge this is.

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Brooke Coleman:
Yeah. And that brings up the sort of the timeline of the things.

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And you know, with BEAD these projects, they have to be built
within four years.

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But folks can apply and, you know, pitch their project to be
built in two years or three years.

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If you say that you can build this project sooner than four
years, you will get more points on your application when that's

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being scored, which is important if you want to win.

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But that does have, you know, implications.

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You need to make sure you have your workforce and your materials
all lined up in order to get them and receive them to meet those

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build deadlines.

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Andy Johns:
Brooke, thank you so much for joining me.

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I think that's one of the best jobs i had seen somebody explain
it succinctly, but give all of the important details because

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there's just so many going on right now.

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So thanks for sharing all that.

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Brooke Coleman:
Absolutely. Happy to help.

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Andy Johns:
She is Brooke Coleman, account manager with Nokia.

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I'm your guest host Andy Johns.

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Thank you so much for listening on this episode of Lead
Tennessee Radio.