Drew Garner

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently began circulating a document, “BEAD Subgrantees: Protect Your Rights,” that encourages internet service providers (ISPs) to ensure that specific language appears in state contracts for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.

In New Mexico, as in every state, the primary reason people can’t get online is that they can’t afford internet service. Fortunately for New Mexicans, their state legislature established a sustainable and budget-neutral way to address this issue.

In the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress found that broadband is “essential to full participation in modern life” and that broadband’s benefits “should be broadly enjoyed by all.” That is the context in which the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment Program was created: Congress sought to address every facet of the digital divide and ensure that all people could actually benefit from this essential service—not simply have a network pass by their home. We appreciated Secretary Lutnick's recent testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee in which he not onl

In a letter to state broadband offices, Elon Musk’s SpaceX suggested that it may be “untenable” for low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite internet providers, such as Starlink, to participate in the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program unless they receive exemptions from certain contract requirements.

The vast majority of states and territories have released their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program final proposals for public comment. Many have closed their feedback periods, wrapped up their plans, and submitted those plans to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for approval. For the few remaining states that received extensions on the deadline to submit final plans, this process is still underway. Here are a few of the states that are in the process of completing their plans.

“We all benefit when we are all connected—when workers connect with employers, patients connect with doctors, students connect with teachers, and small businesses connect with customers. That’s what Congress designed the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program to deliver—connectivity and opportunity for all," said Executive Director Dr. Revati Prasad. “NDIA’s action today is an unfortunately necessary step to restoring Congress’s intention.

More states and territories are releasing their final Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program final proposals for public comment before seeking  National Telecommunications and Information Administration approval. These states received extensions past the NTIA’s early September deadline to submit final plans. 

• The Idaho Office of Broadband released its Draft Final Proposal for public comment on September 16. In its proposal, Idaho plans to spend almost $136 million of its $583 million in BEAD funding towards broadband deployment.

The United States is about to make the largest broadband investment in our country’s history. This investment—the $42 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD—has the potential to drive high-quality, affordable broadband to every last home and business in rural America. But BEAD’s historic levels of deployment will put historic pressure on permitting authorities. And this is especially true in rural areas, where permitting capacity is lowest and BEAD activity will be highest. Such permitting bottlenecks are a fundamental threat to BEAD’s success.

More and more states are releasing their draft final proposals for how to spend their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program funds. Following the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's June 6 announcement that restructured the BEAD Program, all 50 states and U.S. territories are reevaluating their BEAD plans and publicly releasing them for another look.

More than 36 Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program draft final proposals have been released by states and territories. In these plans, each state is deciding how to connect its un- and underserved locations before submitting its final proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for approval. Through these draft final proposals, we are seeing how states have adjusted their broadband deployment activities as a result of the BEAD Program restructuring and the Benefit of the Bargain application round.