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  2. August 2025

August 2025

Status of BEAD Non-Deployment Funds

While States are scurrying to award Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment infrastructure funds before September 4, the other portion of BEAD—non-deployment funds—is in limbo. For those who haven’t been following BEAD closely, non-deployment funds are any remaining money after a State has made awards to bring broadband to every BEAD unserved and underserved location. Because of the uneven nature of allocating BEAD funding to States, some States didn’t expect to have any non-deployment funding, while others expected significant non-deployment funds.

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You could easily live without Artificial Intelligence. But AI wouldn't exist without you. So does AI owe you for your small part in creating it? First, the facts.

NTIA warns states: Don’t try to lower broadband prices

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is telling states they will be shut out of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program if they set the rates that Internet service providers receiving subsidies are allowed to charge people with low incomes.

FCC Launches Proceeding for Annual Report on the Deployment of Advanced Telecommunications Services

The Federal Communications Commission voted to kick off its annual review of the pace and cadence of broadband deployment. The Notice of Inquiry reorients the FCC’s approach to the Section 706 Report by adhering more closely to the plain language of the statute and takes a fresh look at this question of whether broadband “is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion.” The Notice takes a technology neutral and holistic approach to evaluate the state of broadband availability and progress in closing the digital divide in the United States.

NTIA Confirms RDOF Defaults After June 6 Excluded From BEAD Eligibility

National Telecommunications and Information Administration Chief of Staff Brooke Donilon confirmed that locations recently defaulted on in the Federal Communications Commission's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will not be eligible to be included in NTIA's Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. “At some point we just had to draw a line and get to the 'Benefit of the Bargain' program,” Donilon said. “We can’t let perfect be the enemy of the good here. We have to get communities connected.

29% of Minnesota Locations Received No Bids For BEAD

Minnesota’s “Benefit of the Bargain” round received ten fewer applications from fiber providers and left 22,000 locations without any bids. “There are about 22,000 of the 76,000 eligible locations that did not receive a first-round bid,” explained Minnesota Office of Broadband Development Executive Director Bree Maki. “We lost ten applications from fiber providers because of it—and rightfully so. This is confusing.”

Arkansas Experiences 25% Decline in Applicants for BEAD Funding

Arkansas State Broadband Director Glen Howie said that the state had experienced a 25 percent decline in the number of applicants seeking funding from the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The state went from 44 applicants in the original BEAD program to just 33 in the "Benefit of the Bargain" round.

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