New Video: BEAD Program, Efficiently Harness Federal Funding for Connectivity for All

Experts from The Rural Broadband Association, iconectiv and The Futurum Group Discuss Bringing Broadband to Rural America

What: To enhance broadband connectivity and close the digital divide, the United States federal government has allocated $42.5 billion through the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. While these earmarked funds hold great promise for rural America, ensuring they are used as effectively as possible means that all stakeholders must have access to reporting, compliance auditing and monitoring to make the best use of the funds. 

Fortunately, an existing data management infrastructure exists to provide precise visibility across the entire telecommunications infrastructure. With detailed information on millions of network locations and equipment assets, iconectiv® TruOps® Common Language® is the industry standard used by communications service providers for network planning, provisioning and operations. Common Language can also be used by federal and state government reps and subgrantees to ensure simpler streamlined reporting, accountability, efficiency and compliance with regulatory requirements so that they can focus on the network build versus administrative tracking aspects.

Available on demand, a new webinar from Network Media Group explores the current state of the BEAD program and strategies for the efficient use of funds, including effective auditing and reporting, to ensure they are spent as judiciously as possible in delivering broadband connectivity to the rural market. “BEAD Program, Bringing Broadband to Rural America,” covers a range of topics, such as:

• An overview of the BEAD program and why the associated funds are critical for improving both broadband access and affordability.
• Whether there is a one-size-fits-all approach for delivering broadband access for underserved markets, or if a cooperative approach of leveraging different technologies like fiber, fixed wireless access and other methods is better for future-proofing broadband buildouts and ensuring rural America is not left behind.
• Key considerations for effectively and efficiently streamlining the distribution, tracking and auditing of the funds across a wide-ranging ecosystem of federal and local governments, broadband providers and other entities. 
• The role that Common Language – which provides critical details regarding more than 15 million locations and 600K+ network equipment items across thousands of equipment manufacturers – can play in efficiently shepherding the BEAD program forward and ensuring the proper use of resources without diverting funds from network planning and operations.

Who: Hosted by Network Media Group Publisher Abe Nejad, the webinar features telecom industry experts:

• Shirley Bloomfield – CEO, The Rural Broadband Association, NTCA
• Bob Grant – Product Manager, iconectiv
• Ron Westfall – Research Director, The Futurum Group

Where: You can watch “BEAD Program, Bringing Broadband to Rural America” on demand here.