diff --git a/beacon_node/lighthouse_network/src/service/mod.rs b/beacon_node/lighthouse_network/src/service/mod.rs
index 1e22afe7c3..1c0867bf3f 100644
--- a/beacon_node/lighthouse_network/src/service/mod.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/lighthouse_network/src/service/mod.rs
@@ -199,10 +199,14 @@ impl<E: EthSpec> Network<E> {
 
         // Load initial CGC updates from persisted source (DB) or default to minimum CGC
         let cgc_updates = initial_cgc_updates.unwrap_or_else(|| {
-            CGCUpdates::new(
-                ctx.chain_spec
-                    .custody_group_count(config.subscribe_all_data_column_subnets),
-            )
+            let initial_cgc = if config.subscribe_all_data_column_subnets {
+                ctx.chain_spec.number_of_custody_groups
+            } else {
+                ctx.chain_spec.custody_requirement
+            };
+            // TODO(das): Consider setting the initial step not to slot 0, but to the first block in
+            // the node's DB. Such that we can adjust it when backfilling.
+            CGCUpdates::new(initial_cgc)
         });
 
         // Construct the metadata
diff --git a/beacon_node/network/src/service.rs b/beacon_node/network/src/service.rs
index 26e5135eb9..fc2babe59f 100644
--- a/beacon_node/network/src/service.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/network/src/service.rs
@@ -887,8 +887,6 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> NetworkService<T> {
             .spec
             .custody_group_by_balance(known_validators_balance);
 
-        // TODO(das): check the backfilled CGC and potentially update the network globals state
-
         if next_cgc != prev_cgc {
             // TODO(das): Should we consider the case where the clock is almost at the end of the epoch?
             // If I/O is slow we may update the in-memory map for an epoch that's already
@@ -938,6 +936,14 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> NetworkService<T> {
             }
         }
 
+        // TODO(das): check the backfilled CGC and potentially update the network globals state
+        // IDEA:
+        // When we forward sync and finalize a new block, we may restart backfill again from a later
+        // block (the new finalized block). We will reset oldest_block to that block and fail
+        // backfill sync to start over from it. Then make backfill sync use a higher CGC (say 128)
+        // and when oldest_block is less than the oldest step with a value < 128 we can delete that
+        // step such that `custody_group_count(clock - da_window)` returns 128.
+
         // Schedule an advertise CGC update for later
         // TODO(das): use min_epochs_for_data_columns
         let last_pruned_epoch =
diff --git a/beacon_node/network/src/sync/network_context.rs b/beacon_node/network/src/sync/network_context.rs
index 387d6e2087..eb2b425f55 100644
--- a/beacon_node/network/src/sync/network_context.rs
+++ b/beacon_node/network/src/sync/network_context.rs
@@ -399,6 +399,8 @@ impl<T: BeaconChainTypes> SyncNetworkContext<T> {
         // Compute custody column peers before sending the blocks_by_range request. If we don't have
         // enough peers, error here.
         let data_column_requests = if matches!(batch_type, ByRangeRequestType::BlocksAndColumns) {
+            // TODO(das): for backfill sync we want to return a different value if we are trying to
+            // close the gap
             let column_indexes = self.network_globals().sampling_columns(request_start_slot);
             Some(self.make_columns_by_range_requests(request.clone(), column_indexes)?)
         } else {
diff --git a/consensus/types/src/chain_spec.rs b/consensus/types/src/chain_spec.rs
index e67f1ab3c3..290b0d8e08 100644
--- a/consensus/types/src/chain_spec.rs
+++ b/consensus/types/src/chain_spec.rs
@@ -712,15 +712,6 @@ impl ChainSpec {
         Ok(std::cmp::max(custody_column_count, self.samples_per_slot))
     }
 
-    // TODO(das): delete in favor of custody_group_by_balance
-    pub fn custody_group_count(&self, is_supernode: bool) -> u64 {
-        if is_supernode {
-            self.number_of_custody_groups
-        } else {
-            self.custody_requirement
-        }
-    }
-
     pub fn custody_group_by_balance(&self, balance_gwei: u64) -> u64 {
         if balance_gwei == 0 {
             self.custody_requirement