Automation at Scale: Powering ISP Success for BEAD Broadband Rollout

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) is a $42.45 billion push to bring high-speed internet to every corner of the United States, targeting unserved and underserved communities. For internet service providers (ISPs), this means rolling out complex broadband networks, activating new services, and ensuring all services can be properly billed across rural counties and urban edges — quickly, reliably, and at scale.

Traditional network management approaches could struggle to scale, especially for smaller regional ISPs. At Itential, we’re here to solve that challenge so ISPs can meet deadlines and keep costs down.

Our network automation and orchestration platform powers ISPs to onboard new infrastructure, launch services, manage operations, and more, no matter the technology or systems involved. Here’s how we fit into the BEAD picture.

BEAD, part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) with a mission to close the digital divide. It hands states significant budgets — $3.3 billion for Texas, $1.86 billion for California, and $793 million for Ohio stand out — to fund ISPs in building networks that hit 100/20 Mbps minimums (scalable to 100/100 Mbps) in areas stuck below 25/3 Mbps or 100/20 Mbps.

As of March 2025, all 50 states, D.C., and five participating territories have received NTIA approval for Internet for All plans — now, states and territories are taking next steps to request access to funds and select internet providers to handle the infrastructure rollouts.

With the new administration’s tech-neutral stance for BEAD (vs. fiber-centric previously), ISPs are being pushed to propose the most competitive, cost-effective plans possible to state governments — regardless of technology. With a mix of fiber, fixed wireless, and LEO (low earth orbit) satellite connectivity on the table, building the right plan and deploying infrastructure efficiently becomes a massive operational lift.

It’s a good thing integrating across multiple technologies and driving efficiency across hybrid networks is exactly where Itential shines.

Deploying BEAD-funded networks isn’t just about laying fiber or setting up towers — it’s about onboarding infrastructure, activating services, monitoring performance, and reporting compliance. ISPs must ensure their plans follow all the requirements while providing the best service at the most competitive price — not to mention executing on those plans in a timely fashion.

And alongside service activation and delivery, billing systems are equally important. Solutions must also interact with OSS stacks and billing systems to ensure ISPs can operate successfully.

Each piece of the puzzle represents additional technologies, systems, and/or domains involved in your infrastructure deployment. Doing this manually or relying on ad-hoc scripts written by individuals risks delays, errors, and ballooning costs.

By adopting a solution that enables rapid integration and orchestration across any network technology, ISPs can ensure the plan is rock-solid.

• Seamless Onboarding Across Any Tech: BEAD’s tech-neutral stance means ISPs might deploy fiber in one county and wireless in another. API-driven integration ties these together — connecting new gear to critical applications and old systems alike, ensuring end-to-end functionality at scale.
• Fast, Repeatable Service Activation: Launching services for hundreds or thousands of new customers shouldn’t mean reinventing the wheel each time — not when 95% of any given provisioning workflow is essentially the same. Orchestration standardizes the process, allowing teams to build modular, reusable workflows and scale seamlessly across regions as the network grows.
• Real-Time Monitoring and Support: BEAD demands consistent uptime and speed (100/20 Mbps). Automated monitoring spots issues before customers do, and orchestrating response workflows can help address issues and resolve tickets fast.
• Compliance Without Chaos: States and the NTIA want proof — coverage maps, speed tests, progress reports. Integration pulls data from every corner; orchestration allows teams to turn it into compliant, on-time deliverables.

Integration and orchestration capabilities are vital to delivering BEAD’s promise. With the right solution and the right strategy, ISPs will be positioned to win contracts by providing the most cost-effective plan, and to execute on expectations quickly and in compliance with federal and state requirements.

Itential’s Platform is built for this moment — integrating any infrastructure, service, or system, and orchestrating workflows that scale without breaking a sweat.

Here’s how we help ISPs hit the ground running:

• Vendor-Agnostic Integration: Got Nokia fiber switches, Ubiquiti wireless points, and a legacy billing system? Itential connects them all via our patented API-driven integration capabilities. Our vendor-agnostic platform can onboard new BEAD-funded infrastructure and integrate with whatever you’re already running — cloud apps, CRM, monitoring tools — creating a unified operation. A regional ISP in Ohio rolling out hybrid networks can plug everything in without custom coding or months of IT work or professional services.
• Modular, Scalable Workflows: Need to activate 500 customers in one county, then 5,000 across a state? Our orchestration capabilities allow network teams to build repeatable processes that follow organizational standards and flex with demand — provisioning services, updating billing, setting up monitoring, etc.
• Faster Rollout, Lower Overhead: Manual setup kills time and budgets. Automating infrastructure onboarding — like configuring endpoints in hours, not days — cuts labor costs and speeds service delivery.
• End-to-End Visibility: Integrate with all your monitoring tools to listen for specific events and capture that data in Itential. Monitor and manage all your network automation and orchestration from a central platform. Ensure you’re always on top of your network to meet critical BEAD requirements.

Whether you’re a rural co-op stretching $10 million in BEAD funds or a mid-sized ISP tackling Texas’ $3.3 billion rollout, Itential can work with your setup. For many small and mid-sized ISPs across the country, automation isn’t something you’ve been able to dedicate huge resources to — many companies will have one or two individuals working on automation and nothing more. I want to make it clear that Itential can be just as useful for a team like this as it’s been for huge service provider customers. We’ve worked with many smaller ISPs without what you might call a ’Tier 1’ sized investment, kickstarting automation initiatives without introducing radical change.

If you leave this article remembering one thing, it’s that Itential is built to meet you where you are. We add a framework for efficiency without dictating your tech stack. Using Itential allows teams to integrate across technologies, build workflows according to their own specifications, and increase the efficiency of everything you do.

BEAD’s about more than wires — it’s jobs, education, equity. Itential ensures ISPs can help meet the moment and get there efficiently, stretching that $42.45 billion further to deliver long-lasting economic benefits across the country.

Ready to win valuable BEAD contracts and deploy mixed infrastructure at scale (without the hassle)? Get in touch with our team today — or take a look at this page for a deeper dive on our work with service providers.