Wireless Internet Service Providers Association

Another important BEAD-related shoutout to WISPA member Nextlink and ConnectLA, which delivered the nation's first BEAD-funded tower activation in Louisiana on May 13, 2026, four years to the day after the BEAD program was first launched by NTIA. Fixed wireless answered the call and brought the future first! Congratulations!

Nextlink Activates First BEAD-Funded Tower in the United States, Connecting Rural Louisiana - Nextlink Internet Bossier Parish service lights up under the Trump Administration’s “Benefit of the Bargain” reforms — turning a four-year federal program into live broadband

One of my biggest treats is to meet WISPA members in their communities. I just completed a listening tour covering portions of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana, centered on the annual Midwest Broadband Operators Conference in Indianapolis. This is my fourth road trip in two years, and if we didn't cross paths this time I look forward to doing so soon!

Here's the full post from the NTIA's webinar on the benefits of fixed wireless broadband >

https://broadbandusa.ntia.gov/events/latest-events/spectrum-service-building-unlicensed-fixed-wireless.

Great work by Lou Elliot and Streamline Internet for bringing new broadband services via fixed wireless to residents in rural Port LaBelle, FL.

Port LaBelle families finally get reliable internet after years of broken promises Families in Port LaBelle say they were promised internet and cable when they built their homes, but years later, they're still waiting.