How To Activate Your BEAD Award To Bring Value to Your Whole Community

With 47 states and territories reporting Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program awards—totaling over $15 billion in funding and $9 billion in matching contributions—the funding landscape is rapidly evolving. Providers are now faced with critical decisions: how to activate their awards, how to remain competitive if they didn’t win, and how to deliver lasting value to their communities while navigating the post-award phase of the BEAD program.

Understanding the BEAD Landscape

To begin, it’s essential to understand where things stand. BEAD funding is in its final stages of NTIA approval, with most states progressing through the review process. As we discussed in the recent BEAD or Bust webinar, the average customer match has climbed to 40 percent, well above the required 25 percent, reflecting increased community investment and the influence of the Benefit of the Bargain (BOB) round.

Fiber remains the dominant technology in awarded projects, with states like West Virginia and North Carolina reporting nearly 100 percent fiber deployments. However, there’s been a noticeable uptick in the number of locations served by HFC, FW, and satellite technologies, driven by the NTIA’s focus on lowest cost solutions. The NTIA is continuing to squeeze the states and service providers in the Final Proposal curing process. This will continue to drive BEAD eligible locations down the technology hierarchy—leaving rural America behind in the broadband race.

This continued pressure by the NTIA will give service providers an opportunity to overbuild BEAD-funded locations with better technology. This shift underscores the importance of understanding how technology choices and funding outcomes may impact local markets.

As providers prepare to build or reassess their strategies, the next critical consideration is how to meet compliance requirements—especially those tied to performance testing and reporting.

Meeting Compliance With Performance Testing

Once the funding landscape is clear, the next step is ensuring compliance with BEAD requirements—particularly performance testing. Calix offers a comprehensive framework for speed and performance testing that supports both funding compliance and high-quality broadband experiences. These testing capabilities are part of the Calix Speed and Performance Insights solution, which enables your team—from CSRs to field techs—to conduct speed testing across an array of use cases and systems, spanning Calix GigaSpire® and third-party systems to select Calix ONT systems.

In relation to funding compliance, Speed and Performance Insights provides cloud-based TR-143 global performance testing (virtual servers) for FCC compliance testing and reporting in any market. The funding compliance testing process is rigorous. For instance, FCC performance testing requires the broadband service provider (BSP) to run an upload and download speed test on 10 percent or up to 50 subscribers per funded speed tier per hour, six hours per day, for a seven-day testing period. In addition, on the same test groups, the BSP also has to conduct a latency test each minute for the duration of the testing period.

With extensive funding testing experience and BEAD-compliant systems, Calix is positioned to readily support the testing and reporting requirements as they are confirmed for BEAD by NTIA. With these tools, providers can shift their focus from infrastructure to impact—specifically, how to deliver meaningful experiences that resonate with subscribers and strengthen community ties.

Transforming Infrastructure Into Subscriber Value

With compliance underway, attention turns to the real differentiator: subscriber experience. Securing funding and building infrastructure are just the beginning. To truly thrive, providers must evolve into experience-driven organizations. This means offering more than connectivity—because subscribers expect personalized, secure, and seamless digital experiences.

Calix SmartLife™  supports advanced managed services such as parental controls, cybersecurity, network prioritization, and self-service tools. These features are essential for increasing ARPU, reducing churn, and building subscriber loyalty. Providers must also consider how their networks support broader community goals such as public safety, education, telehealth, and digital equity.

This kind of flexibility allows providers to serve residential, business, and community-wide needs through a single architecture—future-proofing their operations and enabling rapid subscriber growth and retention.

Exploring Private Funding Opportunities

For broadband providers that didn’t secure BEAD funding, the journey doesn’t end—it evolves. Private capital offers a dynamic and strategic alternative, enabling providers to move with speed, innovate boldly, and tailor deployments to the unique needs of their communities. Unlike public grants, private funding comes with fewer compliance constraints and greater flexibility, empowering providers to connect underserved areas without delay.

At Calix, our private funding team serves as a bridge between broadband providers and forward-thinking investors. Whether you’re considering debt, equity, or other creative financing models, we help you navigate the landscape with confidence—unlocking new avenues for growth and long-term impact.

By combining strategic funding with subscriber-first services and compliance readiness, providers—whether BEAD funded or not—can build resilient networks and deliver transformative outcomes for the communities they serve.

Moving Forward With Confidence

Whether BEAD funding was secured or not, the next steps are clear:

• For BEAD awardees: Review sub-awardee contracts, begin buildouts, and leverage tools for compliance, marketing, and subscriber engagement.
  
  
• For BEAD runners-up: Assess the impact of nearby BEAD-funded builds, explore private funding options, and develop strategies to stay competitive.