Year in Review
From a BEAD stoppage to DEI drama, 2025 was a wild year for broadband. Broadband Communities takes a look back at some of our most popular posts over the past 12 months.
By Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Here’s a look back at some of the most popular stories posted by Broadband Communities in 2025.
10.) Feinman sounds alarm following departure as director of BEAD (March)
Back in March, Evan Feinman began speaking out in media interviews after he departed from his duties as director of the nation’s massive $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. He lamented the direction of the program, with a new emphasis on low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite, and the changes being pushed following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
9. FCC chair clears docket, reflecting a win for multifamily industry (January)
Another big story following Donald Trump’s inauguration as president were the immediate changes at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the leadership of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. Days after Trump was sworn in, Carr cleared the FCC’s docket of all items that were on circulation, including a deeply unpopular proposal to ban bulk billing arrangements. The move marked a win for many in the multifamily industry, many of whom have long championed the benefits of bulk billing arrangements.
8. Trump-supporting Louisiana CEO makes appeal to Lutnick (April)
A pause to BEAD, announced by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in March, proved to be a controversial move, especially in Louisiana. While progress with BEAD has since regained momentum, back in April the Trump administration was getting peppered with letters calling on officials to move the program forward. One such letter was from SkyRider Communications CEO Brad Warden. Warden’s letter challenged the administration’s notion that BEAD needed to be cleansed of DEI language. “We in North Louisiana do not even know how to spell DEI,” he wrote.
7. Accelecom customers in Kentucky receive disconnection notices (May)
The Kentucky Communications Network Authority (KCNA) began mailing disconnection notices to Accelecom customers in compliance with a court order in May. Previously, Accelecom had been contracted to oversee the expansion of access across the entirety of the state via the KentuckyWired network. KCNA later terminated Accelecom’s contract, however, saying Accelecom failed to meet its contractual obligations. Legal activity around the dispute has remained ongoing late into 2025, according to published reports.
6. AT&T stands firm on DEI in wake of announced $5.75 billion deal (May)
Following AT&T’s $5.75 billion deal to acquire Lumen Technologies’ fiber assets, CEO John Stankey publicly emphasized the company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, even as political and regulatory hurdles have pushed rivals in the opposite direction. His comments stood out, contrasting sharply with moves made by competitors to forego DEI frameworks in order to appease regulators. Stankey also acknowledged the political backdrop but said he remains confident AT&T’s inclusive approach will stand up to regulatory scrutiny.
5. BEAD restructuring notice rescinds final proposal approvals (June)
The long pause to the BEAD program finally ended when the NTIA published their long-anticipated BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice. The notice delivered a shock to the industry, rescinding all final proposal approvals that had been issued in the closing days of Joe Biden’s presidency. As part of their realignment, NTIA declared that previous regulatory framework didn’t capture differences between low-Earth orbit deployments “and other broadband technologies.” It provided a new direction for the industry and sent broadband offices across the nation back to the drawing board.
4. Jon Stewart expresses dismay at BEAD bureaucracy (April)
Comedian Jon Stewart sounded off on the bureaucracy that has plagued the BEAD program back in April, opining with New York Times columnist Ezra Klein that Democrats “amputated their own legs on this.” Stewart described the bureaucracy in the program as “far worse than I could have imagined.” Klien then added to those comments, saying the nation is caught between a party that wants to “make government fail” and a party that “does not make government work.” Not only were Stewart’s comments a rare BEAD mention from a cultural icon, but they also happened to cut to the heart of longstanding critiques about BEAD’s red tape in plain English.
3. Data center construction fuels dark fiber demand in major markets (January)
Going to the desert for water? Data centers are. As we covered back in January, booming data center construction continues to drive demand for dark fiber in major markets like Phoenix, Arizona. As the CRO of Light Source Communications told us at the time, the conditions in the Phoenix market are not isolated to Arizona. However, he said several things about Phoenix stand out. “Phoenix happens to be an area that’s of particular attraction based on availability of land, water, and power,” he said. “Power seems to be the biggest constraint across the U.S. and different markets.”
2. BEAD delay causes Louisiana layoffs at construction firm (April)
April really represented the high-water mark of BEAD chaos, as evidenced by layoffs we reported at a broadband construction firm in rural Louisiana. The company, named EPC, said they were highly impacted by a delay to the BEAD program earlier this year. According to the company’s co-founder, EPC was forced to lay off 80% of subcontractors, pause philanthropic giving, scale back chamber memberships, and layoffs some full-time employees because of the delay. “We were poised for 300% growth,” he wrote in April. “We prepared accordingly. And now—we wait.”
1. Broadband Communities releases the 2025 Top 100 list (September)
From multimillion fiber expansions to grassroots deployments in rural communities, the connectivity landscape is more dynamic than ever. It’s a fact reflected in the makeup our Top 100 list this year, which was compiled as the BEAD program injected new energy to the telecom sector. Expectedly, our annual closer look at 100 top organizations (in no particular order) accelerating builds, sparking new partnerships, and reshaping the competitive landscape marked our most popular item posted in 2025.
