State broadband chiefs say BEAD's "true-up" round leaves underserved homes, schools and clinics out. The last mile just got longer.

Picture a county road crew told it can only patch roads that are completely washed out, while the merely cratered ones wait. That's about how four state broadband directors describe the new supplemental "true-up" round of the $42.5 billion BEAD program, Broadband Breakfast reports. Only "unserved" addresses, those without at least 25/3 Mbps service, qualify. "Underserved" homes below 100/20 don't, and neither do schools, libraries or health clinics. Washington's broadband director, Jordan Arnold, said defaulted projects left about 1,000 underserved locations his state can't fund: "I'm just banging my head against the wall because that community desperately needs service." Indiana's Megan Minor warned that scattered rural addresses may cost more to reach than the formula's cap allows. Oklahoma's Mike Sanders said signing contracts now, only to redo the plans six months later, would be "an absolute travesty." Meanwhile Washington, Indiana and Oklahoma each expect roughly $300 million to $350 million left over, though it's not clear they'll get to keep it. My take: when the people running the program say its rules strand the hardest-to-reach homes, Washington should fix the rules before the money walks.