Satellite internet companies dominated Colorado’s revised broadband plan that aims to finally get the rest of the state’s households online and up to modern-day internet speeds, the Colorado Broadband Office announced late Friday.
Amazon’s upcoming Project Kuiper and Space X’s Starlink satellite services bid on pretty much every eligible location for a chance to qualify for some part of the state’s $826.5 million allocation as part of the federal Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment, or BEAD program.
The LEOs, short for low earth orbit services, won 50% of the state’s approximately 90,000 eligible locations of homes and buildings deemed to have no internet or subpar speeds of less than 100 mbps down, and 20 mbps up.
Public comments on the preliminary winners will be accepted until Aug. 29 at 11:59 p.m. After that, the state sends its final plan off to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration by Sept. 4. They’ll have 90 days to review and approve plans.
“I want to celebrate being able to serve more locations with BEAD funding,” said Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office. “Amazon is now part of our broadband ecosystem and we’ll welcome them. … I think Amazon has a lot to prove so I’m looking forward to them delivering on their commitment.”
Originally, the $42 billion BEAD program, which Congress approved in 2021 as part of the Infrastructure Act, prioritized fiber technology because many considered it to be the fastest and most future proof. But it is also the most expensive.
In June, the Trump administration made every state and territory redo their BEAD programs, even in cases where awards were already announced to internet providers. States had to keep technology neutral and pick the lowest cost options.
The LEOs were primarily picked because they could do it much cheaper than everyone else, Reitter said.
“LEO was really aggressive in their coverage and also their pricing,” she said. “They decreased their cost per BSL (broadband serviceable location) quite a bit to be more competitive against the other technologies. Fixed wireless is probably their main competitor.”
Reitter said Amazon’s bid came out to about $560 per location, resulting in a $25.4 million BEAD award to Amazon. Starlink received $9.16 million for 5,400 locations. That averages to nearly $1,700 per site.
Both services pledge to reserve capacity on their satellites to serve those rural Colorado communities.
But in cases where LEOs couldn’t provide evidence that they could scale their speeds and service in the future, awards went to those who could, mainly fiber.
There were also areas where LEOs didn’t get appropriate permission, like in the state’s tribal lands, where awards to fiber came out to $12,924 in BEAD subsidies per location.
Fiber providers were awarded 48% of the locations, while wireless providers received 2%.
Because so many locations went to LEOs, the state awarded on a preliminary basis just $409 million of the more than $800 million available. Reitter said she hopes Colorado can use the rest of the funding in other broadband initiatives to help Coloradans around the state.
Dollar-wise, fiber locations will receive 91% of the $409 million, while wireless gets 1%. The two satellite services are getting 8%.
Amazon, which applied in the state’s original round, plans to cover 42,252 locations, with more than half deemed unserved, which means they have no broadband service.
Starlink, which didn’t bid in Colorado’s original rounds, also pledges to provide enough capacity in its satellite service to serve 5,400 locations. The company’s internet service covers all of Colorado, according to Starlink’s website.
Amazon hasn’t launched service anywhere but is building a constellation of 3,200 satellites for a reportedly multibillion dollar price tag. Consumer service is expected to start in late 2025. Download speeds are expected to be around 400 mbps. Pricing has not been announced.
“We’ll see what happens,” Reitter said. “For the folks waiting for Amazon to serve them, Amazon doesn’t provide service now. They’re ramping up and committed to us that it’ll be up by 2027. That’s almost three years away. The longer people wait, the longer they fall behind.”