Half of the 16 original projects approved in South Carolina’s Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Final Proposal were funded with existing, non-BEAD resources, according to the South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO).
South Carolina will issue $35,801,620 in BEAD awards, which will cover 19,022 broadband serviceable locations.
The SCBBO also said that four of its eight of the remaining BEAD agreements are signed and that construction will begin soon. Subrecipient BEAD agreements have been signed for projects from ZiTEL, TruVista, Bell South, and Comcast.
The eight approved BEAD projects:
- ZiTEL, LLC: $8,118,544 for fiber to 4,235 locations. The award represents 22.68% of the total project funding.
- TruVista Communications $6,247,010 for fiber to 2,318 locations. The award represents 17.45% of the total project funding.
- Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services, LLC: $5,341,800 for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband to 8,888 locations. The award represents 14.92% of the total project funding.
- BellSouth Telecommunications LLC (AT&T): $4,209,849 for fiber to 803 locations. The award represents 11.76% of the total project funding.
- Comcast Cable Communications, LLC: $3,640,032 for hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) to 533 locations. The award represents 10.17% of the total project funding.
- Spectrum Southeast, LLC; $3,611,355 for fiber to 837 locations. The award represents 10.09% of the total project funding.
- Intus Smartcities Inc.: $2,553,850 for fiber to 325 locations. The award represents 7.13% of the total project funding.
- Space Exploration Technologies (Starlink): $2,079,000 for LEO satellite broadband to 1,083 locations. The award represents 5.81% of the total project funding.
“Today marks our five-year anniversary as well as a significant milestone for broadband deployment in South Carolina,” SCBBO Director Jim Stritzinger said in a press release about the BEAD awards.
“With an extraordinary team and a wonderful partnership with our ISPs, we’ve collaborated to achieve incredible results across all 46 counties in the last five years. With careful stewardship of our existing state and federal funds, we’ve been able to minimize the need for BEAD funds while simultaneously accelerating construction for our citizens. The end of our digital divide is now clearly in sight!”
In the spring of 2025, Stritzinger told Telecompetitor that he conceptualized the BEAD program as the fourth and final leg of an Olympic relay race aimed at bringing broadband to South Carolina. The first leg was the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. That was followed by federal funding such as the USDA’s ReConnect Loan and Grant Program and the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The third leg was the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
More information about South Carolina broadband, including links to state funding resources, grants made, BEAD news, state-specific Telecompetitor coverage, and more can be found on Telecompetitor’s Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
