Now through Jan. 31, 2025, many Washington State’s local governments, nonprofits, tribal governments, and ISPs are deep into the process of applying for Washington’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program to bring broadband internet to those across the state who haven’t had past access by building needed infrastructure and increasing high-speed internet adoption.
As a quick background, this federal program will fund more than $42 billion for infrastructure planning and implementation nationwide; of that, Washington State will receive more than $1.23 billion. This represents a once-in-a-lifetime chance to drive transformative broadband infrastructure projects with telecoms, ports, PUDs, and visionary public-private partnerships.
Readiness is key
While the next two months will be a full-court-press to complete applications, by late 2025, it’ll be “go time!” The Washington State Broadband Office will submit its Final Proposal for BEAD deployment mid-year and once approved, subgrantee awards, contracting, and network development efforts are expected to commence.
What will come next in the BEAD project cycle:
- Build and deployment: After securing awards and finalizing contracts with WSBO, operators will have four years to complete environmental and cultural planning work, engineer final network designs, and buildout the funded network projects.
- Operate and manage: The funded networks will bring high-speed broadband to communities. Low-income households will gain access to high-speed broadband at an all in cost of $30 per month.
- Audit, compliance and reporting: Operators must maintain detailed audit trails and meet ongoing federal, state, and local reporting requirements throughout the project’s lifecycle and the ownership and performance of the network will be closely monitored for compliance for 10 years.
The program will require hundreds of new jobs for skilled workers in Washington State alone, in both the telecom and construction sectors involved.
How NoaNet can help:
NoaNet can help maximize the limited supply of human resources through its professional services to help BEAD recipients to do more with less, either as a long-term strategy or as a bridge until local resources can staff up. Our expertise in network rollouts will help in these next critical stages keep projects on track. Consider these vital services available from NoaNet:
Comprehensive Network Engineering- NoaNet’s engineers develop innovative solutions for network architecture to maximize bandwidth while fitting within a project’s budget. We provide full-service engineering, including a consulting review of your plans or starting from scratch. Our staff can be a resource for your organization. NoaNet (literally!) covers a lot of ground, from network architecture design, testing and planning, electronics design and configuration, network design to the end-user premise, and much more. With more than two decades of on-the-ground experience in Washington State, our team has invaluable knowledge of preparing for and managing successful network deployment.
Construction Management – Our professionals can advise on your BEAD-funded network rollout to help keep it on budget. This is critical because, as the awardee your organization will be responsible to make up for the additional capital any cost overruns… experience matters when managing these network construction efforts! Thoughtful oversight can avert these pitfalls.
Our Outside Plant project management team can work with you to develop and post requests for proposals (RFPs). NoaNet’s construction management oversight processes ensure compliance with statutory, administrative, and regulatory requirements. Our engineers and outside plant professionals can provide site inspections for your project during various stages of construction to verify permit capacities and compliance for the State, City, or Local government codes.
Network Operations and Monitoring – Once your network is up and running, NoaNet’s Spokane Valley Network Operations Center can run your network through its 24x7x365 network operations team. If outages occur, we’ll proactively manage break-fix teams and Retail Service Provider calls to get things back running smoothly.
NoaNet has the know-how and capacity to help in the most critical areas of the broadband construction process: RFP management, construction management oversight, ongoing network operations, and more.
And, as new BEAD-funded networks become implemented for Washington’s underserved communities, they also stand to benefit from NoaNet’s newest tool in the toolbox: NoaNet Community Broadband.
Now piloting: NoaNet Community Broadband – Our new end-user service solution builds on NoaNet’s legacy of 3,800 miles of relied-upon network connectivity across Washington State. Piloting on Chelan County PUD’s open access network, NoaNet Community Broadband provides residential and small-business access to reliable, high-speed internet to underserved communities throughout Washington, helping to further bridge the digital divide. This no-frills, affordable, community-focused, last-mile broadband service empowers opportunities for residents and businesses to prosper through high-quality connectivity. Learn more at www.noanetfiber.net!
Ready to take the next step? Look to us as your not-for-profit resource, ready to support your broadband project, whether it’s for network implementation or a last-mile customer solution for your underserved community.
Northwest Open Access Network (NoaNet) is a not-for-profit wholesale telecommunications mutual corporation serving Washington State since 2000. As a mission-driven organization, NoaNet focuses on bringing world-class telecommunications technology to hard-to-reach communities which lack access to high-speed, affordable broadband services.