Four Great Plains states' plans for connectivity vary widely

Location shares come from each state’s final, publicly available BEAD proposal.

Alt text: Four pie charts compare the planned broadband technology mix by location across Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Kansas is mostly fixed wireless, Nebraska is split across fixed wireless and satellite, North Dakota is entirely fiber/HFC, and South Dakota is mostly fiber/HFC with a large satellite share. Callouts note that Kansas’ fixed wireless locations receive only about 10% of allocated funding, while South Dakota’s fixed wireless share receives about 75% of allocations.

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Fixed wireless infrastructure delivers internet through towers or other ground-based equipment. It has long been one of the main alternatives to fiber for hard-to-reach areas, especially before satellite became more viable.

Chart: Katie Malone/Technical.lySource: NTIACreated with Datawrapper