The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill passed last summer included $65 billion for broadband to help bridge the digital divide. A big chunk of that $65 billion ($42.45 billion) is targeted for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, which funnels money through the states to attack the unserved and underserved areas (those places that lack access to broadband offering download speeds of 25 Mbps and upload speeds of 3 Mbps.) The BEAD program, which the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) administers, allocates $100 million to each state initially. The states, in turn, distribute the funds through broadband grants, with additional funding based on coverage maps the Federal Communications Commission issues later this year. To qualify for funding, each state must submit a five-year action plan that identifies locations that should be prioritized for support, outlines how best to serve unconnected locations and assesses how long it would take to build out universal broadband. The BEAD program also indicates the state-level grants must be open to cooperatives, non-profits, publicprivate partnerships, private entities, utilities and local governments. The recipients are required to deliver service offering speeds of 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream and provide at least one low-cost service plan for subscribers. The money is welcomed by states, counties, cities, towns throughout the nation. Businesses – small and large – also embrace this rare moment of Congressional bipartisanship. “Reliable, high-speed internet is critical,” said Matt Furlow, Policy Director for the Chamber Technology Engagement Center, a part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Broadband Source: Forrester Research; survey of security strategy decision makers Source: Altman Sol “What do you anticipate the benefits are of implementing XDR solutions at your organization?” Network man telligence? Source: Carmel Group U.S. Fixed-Wireless and Hybrid ISP Subscriber Growth, 2012-2025 Reasons for Adopting SD-WAN SD-WAN Adoption Driver Share of Respondents Current Adopters, N-245 contact center Strongly Disagree programs ge with customers ght tasks g costs rvices 41% 22% 21% 31% 20% 32% 37% 27% 28% 29% 30% 31% 31% 34% 34% 57% 59% 57% 55% 54% 52% 50% 50% 49% More efficient to deploy & manage Lower cost Quicker to deploy new locations or alter existing Better protection of business-critical assets Implemented Planning to implement Improved fidelity and prioritization of security alerts to make it easier to triage and respond to events (leading to improved response time) Improved security operations (e.g. monitoring, visualization, query investigation, etc.) Better ability to consolidate disparate tools into a common threat detection and response architecture More automated incident response More efficient threat/forensic investigations (i.e., data enrichment, attack itemlines, etc.) Better detection of unknown, advanced threats that may go undetected with curent tools Improved threat hunting 29% 2.3 2012 13.50 12.00 10.50 9.00 7.50 6.00 4.50 3.00 1.50 00.0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021E 2022E 2023E 2024E 2025E 2.7 3.1 3.5 4.0 4.7 5.3 5.9 6.9 7.8 8.8 10 11.3 12.7 Millions of subscribers Users double every five years. 38% 38% 34% DIY Co-Managed Managed 45 40 15 Tradit WAN (No SD MOBILE & WIRELESS A BRIDGE TOO FAR? WISPs wonder if BEAD will bridge the digital divide By Bruce Christian 48 CHANNELV ISION | JULY - AUGUST 2022
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