Starlink wins $8.2 million Louisiana BEAD grant for 10,635 rural locations
ConnectLA signed an $8.2 million BEAD deal with Starlink for 10,635 rural locations too costly to reach with fiber.
what happened
Louisiana's broadband office, ConnectLA, signed a BEAD grant agreement with SpaceX's Starlink worth about $8.2 million to connect 10,635 homes and businesses across more than 50 parishes, per Broadband Breakfast. ConnectLA executive director Veneeth Iyengar said the cost of running fiber to these locations was going to be so expensive that it made more sense to connect them with Starlink; the locations are expected to be online by the end of summer 2026, per Louisiana Radio Network. Customers receive the equipment free and pay about $55 a month, per the state's terms.
why it matters
It is one of the earliest state BEAD awards to route federal broadband money to Starlink rather than a fiber overbuilder, coming as SpaceX has publicly pushed other states to loosen technology-neutral BEAD rules in satellite's favor. Other states weighing a similar carve-out for their highest-cost locations will look to Louisiana's roughly $770-per-location cost as a reference point.
signal-to-noise
quick facts
- Companies
- SpaceX
- Category
- procurement
- Impact
- notable
- SNR
- 4 / 5
- Event date
- 2026-06-11
- Published
- 2026-07-24 09:26 UTC