The Pew Charitable Trusts posts information on the low cost options for BEAD on Linked In…
State broadband offices had a degree of discretion to tailor this requirement for their state, but NTIA set a few guardrails, including that the low-cost option must:
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Be available for households that would have qualified for ACP, including those with an income at or below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines, or those already enrolled in another eligible program, like SNAP and Medicaid;
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Provide 100/20 Mbps speeds (unless the FCC changes to a higher speed definition) with a latency of no more than 100 milliseconds;
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Not be subject to data caps, surcharges, or throttling;
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Allow eligible subscribers to upgrade to a new low-cost plan at no cost if one becomes available; and,
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Be available for the “useful life” of the network, which NTIA defined as 10 years.
Here’s what they found…
