Bossier Parish service lights up under the Trump Administration’s “Benefit of the Bargain” reforms — turning a four-year federal program into live broadband service for rural households
HUDSON OAKS, Texas & BOSSIER CITY, La. —May 13, 2026 — Nextlink Internet, on May 1, 2026, activated the first tower in the nation funded by the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) program. The site is located in southern Bienville Parish, Louisiana, bringing service to 104 BEAD locations Bossier Parish. It is delivering up to gigabit-speed internet to homes and businesses across northwest Louisiana via fixed wireless infrastructure.
The activation is the first time households have had service available via BEAD-funded broadband infrastructure anywhere in the United States, four and a half years after the $42.45 billion program was created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November 2021. It also makes Louisiana the first state to convert BEAD funding into live infrastructure, adding to a string of national firsts the state has claimed under the Landry Administration and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s restructured program.
This tower is one part of an $18.5 million Louisiana BEAD subgrant to Nextlink that will deliver gigabit-class fixed wireless infrastructure to 7,460 unserved and underserved locations across Louisiana, awarded through ConnectLA’s GUMBO 2.0 program. Nextlink is deploying Tarana ngFWA Gen 2 technology over 3.5 GHz CBRS spectrum, the same architecture the company has scaled to over 350 live sectors nationwide, the largest G2 footprint in the world.
A Six-Month Sprint From Approval to Activation
Louisiana’s path to the first BEAD activation has been the fastest in the country:
- November 7, 2025 — first state to receive NTIA Final Proposal approval under the Benefit of the Bargain rules
- January 17, 2026 — first state to sign BEAD subgrant agreements with broadband providers
- February 18, 2026 — first state to disburse BEAD infrastructure dollars
- April 30, 2026 — first state to clear federal NEPA approvals for BEAD construction
- May 1, 2026 — first state with a live, in-service BEAD-funded tower
Quote from Nextlink Co-Founder and CEO Bill Baker
“Six months ago, BEAD was a federal program that had spent four years and not connected a single home. Today, in Bossier Parish, that changes. Our deployment is proof that when Washington trusts technology and trusts the states, rural Americans get connected fast. We are honored to be the company that first turned BEAD from a promise into a working tower, and grateful to Governor Landry, Administrator Roth, ConnectLA, and the people of Bossier Parish for letting us be part of it.”
— Bill Baker, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Nextlink Internet
Quote from Governor Jeff Landry
“Louisiana said we would lead the nation, and today we did it again. The first BEAD-funded tower in America is on the air right here in Bienville Parish. I want to thank President Trump, Secretary Lutnick, Administrator Roth, and our congressional delegation for the reforms that made this possible — and the team at Nextlink and ConnectLA for proving that federal dollars can move at the speed of Louisiana, not the speed of Washington. This is what a generational investment looks like when you focus on results.”
— Jeff Landry, Governor of Louisiana
Quote from NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth
“Just six months ago, I expressed that I couldn’t wait to see shovels in the ground and broadband availability for every Louisianan. Today, that vision is becoming a reality, with the first BEAD-funded connections in the state now live through a fixed wireless tower deployed under the Trump NTIA’s Benefit of the Bargain reforms. Thanks to technology neutrality, real competition, and skin in the game, the BEAD program is accelerating broadband buildout and delivering results. Congratulations to Nextlink, Governor Landry, ConnectLA, and the people of Bossier Parish on this exciting milestone.”
— Arielle Roth, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator
Quote from ConnectLA Director Veneeth Lyengar
“From the beginning, Louisiana has approached BEAD with a simple goal: get infrastructure built and get communities connected,” said Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of ConnectLA .“Today’s milestone shows what can happen when states are trusted to move quickly, providers are empowered to compete and the focus stays on execution. In just a few months, Louisiana moved from federal approval to delivering live BEAD-funded service to rural households. That is a major milestone for our state and an important example of how this program can deliver results for communities across the nation.”
— Veneeth Iyengar, ConnectLA Director
Quote from Nextlink Chief Strategy Officer Claude Aiken
“The Benefit of the Bargain reforms made today possible. By treating technologies on equal footing and trusting state broadband offices to pick what works, NTIA opened the door for a fixed-wireless tower in northwest Louisiana to be the very first piece of BEAD infrastructure delivering gigabit service to rural households.”
— Claude Aiken, Chief Strategy Officer, Nextlink Internet
The Technology Behind the First
This tower uses Tarana’s ngFWA Gen 2 platform on 3.5 GHz CBRS spectrum, augmented with 6 GHz unlicensed spectrum. The site delivers gigabit-speed downstream throughput and is engineered to perform in non-line-of-sight and fringe conditions that have historically limited fixed wireless in heavily wooded rural terrain.
Nextlink holds approximately 1,072 CBRS PALs across 491 counties in 11 states, making it the third-largest CBRS PAL holder in the United States. The company expects to bring more than 600 G2 sectors online by the end of 2026, covering more than 317,000 locations.
About Nextlink Internet
Nextlink Internet is a rural-focused provider of high-speed internet and phone services, having invested over $1 billion to close the digital divide across 12 states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wyoming, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. As an active participant in public-private partnerships, Nextlink is working to rapidly connect homes, schools, libraries, and businesses in small communities across the Central United States. Nextlink operates over 2,600 active towers, holds the third-largest portfolio of CBRS Priority Access Licenses in the United States, serves more than 100,000 subscribers, and is the recipient of a $429.2 million Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) award from the FCC. For more information, visit nextlinkinternet.com.
About ConnectLA and Louisiana BEAD
ConnectLA is the Louisiana Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity. Louisiana received a $1.355 billion BEAD allocation — the eighth-largest in the nation — and is administering subgrants through the GUMBO 2.0 program. Louisiana has set a target of universal high-speed broadband access by 2028, two years ahead of the federal 2030 goal.
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