Unpacking Approved BEAD Volume 2s: Arizona

BEAD
funding
Author

Michael Santorelli

Published

August 6, 2024

NTIA recently approved Arizona’s Initial Proposal Volume 2. The ACLP compared the final version with the pre-comment draft the state released last fall (it did not post the version it submitted to NTIA). A redlined comparison is available here. The following changes were evident:

Subgrantee Selection Process

Project Areas

The state estimates that it will create 65 bespoke PAs to cover the entire state.

Scoring – Minimal BEAD Outlay

The state has largely maintained its proposed approach to awarding up to 250pts in this category. However, it removed reference to “scalability” in a sub-category and will focus only on resiliency.

Scoring – Affordability

The state has reduced the number of points in this category from 90 to 75. It also adjusted the range of prices used in assigning points, with proposed prices for 1/1 Gbps service of less than $85.55/month receiving max points (previously, the threshold for max points was $65).

Scoring – Fair Labor Standards

The state increased the number of points in this category from 35 to 50 and will award them based on past compliance with relevant laws and plans for future compliance.

Scoring – Secondary Criteria

The state made several adjustments to these criteria, including:

  • Reducing the number of points for Technological Requirements from 60 to 45.
  • Increasing the number of points for Local Coordination from 20 to 25. The number of points for obtaining letters of support increased to 15 (from 10).
  • Increasing the number of points for CAIs from 10 to 20.

Low-Cost Option

The state has modified several aspects of its option:

  • It removed reference to requiring the use of broadband consumer labels (likely because those are already required by the FCC) and requiring subgrantees to participate in the Lifeline program.
  • It clarified that the option must be offered for 10 years and that the price-point ($30/month) cannot be changed. However, if ACP is not renewed or a successor is not deployed, then the price-point can be 35% of the FCC Urban Benchmark Rate in all areas.
  • It will allow subgrantees to seek a waiver to increase the price of the low-cost option to no more than $50.