Will the BEAD rule rewrite have a big impact on satellite operators?
- Caleb Henry
- Jun 12
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 24
June 12, 2025 - Written by Caleb Henry
On June 6, NTIA issued a drastic overhaul of the $42.5 billion BEAD program to include policy priorities of the Trump administration, including, among other things, a technology-neutral approach that puts LEO satellite broadband on a more equal footing with fiber. Historically, U.S. government broadband programs have skewed heavily in favor of fiber, even in remote locations where satellite technology excels.
BEAD, prior to the rewrite, was trending in a similar direction. Of the three states that had finalized their BEAD plans, only two included satellite connectivity in their solutions for connecting unserved and underserved communities. Although Trump rescinded those state plans, they can provide useful case studies for how BEAD was unfolding.
Delaware planned to spend more than $107M connecting 5,721 households and businesses, a cost equaling $18,700 per site. Contrast that with a residential Starlink plan, where the same amount of money could furnish a house with a terminal and fund connectivity (at $120 a month) for more than 12 years.
Louisiana’s plan allocated 95% of BEAD locations to fiber, even while saying it “firmly believe[s] in the technology advancements and innovative evolution of fixed wireless and LEO providers.”
Nevada preliminarily awarded Amazon Kuiper $14.5M to connect 4,891 locations, a cost equal to approximately $3,000 per site. Of the 19 companies that won BEAD deals in Nevada, Amazon Kuiper was the third cheapest. The most expensive fiber company, Beehive Broadband, averages $77,000 per site. The vast majority of Nevada’s BEAD awards still went to fiber. Kuiper accounted for 2.6% of the state’s $553.8M spending plan.
Prior to the NTIA rewrite, BEAD in some cases explicitly prioritized the use of fiber. And while there are definitely cases where fiber is the superior solution – like connecting apartment complexes – the overwhelming number of awards went to fiber providers, often at cost points multiple times that of satellite connectivity, providing an indication of how BEAD was likely to play out.
Elimination of BEAD policies that favored fiber for “priority broadband projects” presents an opportunity for Amazon Kuiper and SpaceX’s Starlink to compete more aggressively for awards. NTIA’s rewrite maintained the requirement for 100 milliseconds or less of latency, which precludes GEO operators Hughes and Viasat from participating.
For LEO satellite operators, the stakes for BEAD are high. Just 5% of the $42.5 billion would equal an amount greater than what the Canadian government is loaning Telesat to help finance the Lightspeed enterprise broadband constellation. An entire LEO constellation could be bankrolled by a fraction of the proposed BEAD funding.
