Louisiana is the First State to Distribute BEAD Grants
Louisiana became the first state to distribute funds from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. With this, the state begins executing on its plans to allocate $1.3 billion in infrastructure grants, with 95% of this directed toward fiber internet.
On January 6th, Louisiane-based ISP PhireLink announced that it secured one of Louisiana’s first BEAD grants, marking a major step in closing its digital divide.
PhireLink, headquartered in Farmerville, Louisiana, operates in three states; Louisiana, Colorado, and Kansas, and has ambitious plans to expand across the American South. It specializes in fiber internet. And its first BEAD project is to bring broadband to underserved communities in Slidell and St. Tammany Parish, just north of New Orleans on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
This marks an important step in BEAD’s –and Louisiana’s – mission to address connectivity gaps in areas that have not been well served by large urban ISPs.
Identifying Priority Areas
Louisiana’s broadband office, ConnectLA, has identified Slidell as a priority for publicly-funded digital infrastructure investment. A small city of 28,000 that was in the direct path of 2005’s hurricane Katrina, and that struggled since, Slidell includes 142 BEAD-eligible locations and has roughly $414,000 allocated for broadband improvements.
The Broader St. Tammany Parish, home to over 576,000 residents, has 106,884 BEAD-serviceable locations overall, and is being positioned it as a priority area for BEAD grants. PhireLink’s grant promises to be the first of many similar ones.
PhireLink’s Statement
In a press release, PhireLink CEO Glen Post expressed the company’s dedication to addressing the connectivity issues of the digital divide. “We are dedicated to providing reliable broadband to unserved and underserved communities,” Post stated. PhireLink’s plan is to use this funding to deliver 1-gigabit symmetrical speeds to Slidell and St. Tammany Parish, which is sure to prove vital to education, telehealth, and economic growth.
What to Look For With BEAD in 2025
Looking ahead, expect Louisiana to continue its lead in in making broadband grants as part of the national BEAD effort. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards has prioritized fast-tracking BEAD projects, saying in 2023 “will start executing shovel-ready projects in 2024,” and it has the first state to award grants since BEAD funding was approved in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Ultimately, with its awards of BEAD grants to smaller local providers, Louisiana is demonstrating how targeted investments can transform connectivity and create a more equitable digital future for areas overlooked by larger ISPs.
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