Benefit of the Bargain BEAD Proposals Roll In
Friday, August 29, 2025
Weekly Digest
Benefit of the Bargain BEAD Proposals Roll In
You’re reading the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s Weekly Digest, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) broadband stories of the week. The digest is delivered via e-mail each Friday.
Round-Up for the Week of August 25-29, 2025
Following a June 6 announcement from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) that restructured the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, all states and territories have been tasked with reevaluating their plans to connect un- and underserved locations to high-speed internet. BEAD’s "Benefit of the Bargain" application round presents new challenges for states and territories as they take another look at what locations to connect, which technologies to employ, and how much funding to use. States are releasing draft final proposals in droves, soliciting public comments before the plans go to NTIA for final review. In this series, the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society offers glimpses at state BEAD plans and what they might mean for connecting everyone to broadband.
Virginia
The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) released its Draft Final Proposal on August 6, 2025, the first state or territory to do so. DCHD identified 83,778 eligible locations for funding, and 4,445 eligible community anchor institutions (CAIs). Under Virginia's Initial Proposal Volume 2, there were an estimated 162,000 remaining unserved homes, businesses, and community anchors slated to be connected with BEAD Program funds.
Virginia's final proposal allocates $613,277,638 to connecting the nearly 84,000 locations to broadband networks. Virginia's BEAD allocation is $1,481,489,573. Nearly 80 percent (78.8%) of eligible locations will be served by fiber networks, 14.2% by low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite service, 5.6% by cable, and 1.4% by fixed wireless.
Comments for Virginia's plan were due on August 13. DHCD is now in the process of digesting the comments it received and preparing to submit its proposal to NTIA.
Lousiana
Louisiana was the second state to release its Draft Final Proposal, publishing the plan on August 8. Louisiana's Office of Broadband Development and Connectivity (ConnectLA) found 124,486 locations, including 3,356 CAIs, eligible for $498,296,587 in BEAD support. The state was allocated over $1.3 billion in BEAD funds, meaning Louisiana may have over $860 million to use for non-deployment activities (such as making internet service more affordable) or the state may be returning that money to NTIA to help fund deployment in other states.
Louisiana's estimate of eligible Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) in the Final Proposal decreased by over 15,000––Louisiana's Initial Proposal Volume 2 estimated 139,000 locations would be served through the BEAD Program
On the technology side, 78.1% of these locations will be served by fiber broadband networks, 8.5% by LEO, 5.1% by cable, and 5.7% by fixed wireless.
Comments on Louisiana's plan were due on August 15. The state is no longer accepting comments.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
The public comment window for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' Draft Final Proposal closed on August 23. In its draft final proposal, the Office of Broadband and Policy Development (BPD) reported over 10,600 locations (about the same as its earlier estimates), including 39 CAIs, eligible for BEAD funding.
Allocated more than $80 million in BEAD funds, BPD cut its spending down to $31 million in the Benefit of the Bargain round, meaning $49 million in funding is available for non-deployment uses.
BPD will connect 100% of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with fiber broadband service.
Arkansas
ARConnect, the State Broadband Office of Arkansas, released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 22. Arkansas had provisionally selected 23 internet service providers (ISPs) to bring affordable, reliable high-speed internet to over 77,000 homes and businesses and 1,500 CAIs. The proposal envisions using $308 million in BEAD funding, or 30 percent of the state’s $1 billion BEAD allocation.
Arkansas includes a diverse array of technologies in its final proposal. ARConnect plans to support networks employing fiber (73.7%), LEO (16.2%), cable (3.2%), and fixed wireless (6.9%).
Arkansas is accepting public comments on its final proposal until August 29.
Colorado
The Colorado Broadband Office (CBO) released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 22, including a planned spend of around $409 million––just under half of the state's $826 million BEAD allocation. The state plans to connect 96,000 un- and underserved locations to broadband. Colorado is not connecting any community anchor institutions using BEAD funds, even though that is a priority of the BEAD Program.
LEO comes out on top with 49.6% of locations to be served by satellite internet. Following close behind is fiber (47.6%), then fixed wireless for a small chunk of locations (2.8%). Under CBO's previous BEAD Initial Proposals, Colorado's technological mix was 70% for fiber versus 30% for LEO and fixed wireless options.
Brandy Reitter, executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, said that while LEO service operators were assertive in submitting bids during the prior program, they were more aggressive in the Benefit of the Bargain application round in terms of pricing and the number of locations they targeted.
Commenters can submit responses to CBO's draft final proposal until August 29.
Maine
The Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA) aims to connect over 23,000 eligible locations. MCA released its Draft Final Proposal on August 22.
In MCA's 2023 Initial Proposal Volume II, the state listed over 75,000 un- and underserved locations (combined) as eligible for BEAD funding. As of January 2025, the state had adjusted its BEAD plan to connect 29,000 locations and 3,000 CAIs.
The state plans to use $48.3 million of its $272 million BEAD funding allocation (around 17%) to connect the unserved and underserved locations. Maine does not plan to use BEAD funding to connect community anchor institutions.
MCA lists fiber as the leading technology to be employed (84.8%), followed by LEO satellite (14.9%) and cable (0.3%).
MCA is accepting comments on its plan until August 29. Maine will submit its final proposal to NTIA by September 4.
Montana
ConnectMT, Montana's broadband office, released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 22.
Montana was allocated over $628 million in BEAD funds. According to its final proposal, ConnectMT will only be using about half of that––$308 million––to connect un- and underserved locations. ConnectMT's final proposal lists almost 72,000 locations as eligible for BEAD funding, including 234 CAIs.
Montana currently has the highest percentage of LEO funding allocations. ConnectMT aims to connect 65% of households using LEO satellite service, 20.2% with fiber, and 14.8% with fixed wireless.
ConnectMT is accepting public comments on its proposal until August 29.
North Dakota
North Dakota’s Draft Final Proposal is open for public comment through August 29.
The state will deploy broadband networks to 301 locations (no community anchor institutions). North Dakota’s BEAD allocation is $130 million, but the state estimates that it will only use about $6.8 million for BEAD broadband deployment (subgrantees BEK Communications Cooperative and Midco will provide roughly $2.9 million in matching funds). The BEK project will bring fiber to 295 locations. Midco will deploy a hybrid fiber-coaxial cable solution to 6 locations.
North Dakota assessed all aspects of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to determine whether a proposed project demonstrated the ability to support current and future connectivity needs of all North Dakotans. The evaluation process focused on the following dimensions: speed, latency, reliability, consistency in service, and scalability. Applications were assessed on the ability to meet current performance standards and support future growth, including the deployment of advanced services.
In 2023, North Dakota’s Broadband Program Director Brian Newby estimated that approximately 97% of locations in the state were already served by the speeds required by the BEAD program. Director Newby said that means there are less than 5,000 locations remaining that need coverage.
But even with so few locations to connect, Newby was concerned that the cost of connecting those locations would exceed the state's BEAD allocation.
Pennsylvania
On August 22, the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA) released the Commonwealth’s Draft Final Proposal for public comment. PBDA has determined, through its Benefit of the Bargain application round, that all 127,108 eligible locations and 2,833 community anchor institutions within Pennsylvania can be served at a cost of $793,494,747, resulting in a “savings” of $345 million. (Pennsylvania’s BEAD allocation is $1,161,778,272.)
Pennsylvania’s provisionally selected projects include a diverse mix of technologies, with 64% of eligible locations receiving fiber, 4% hybrid-fiber coaxial, 14% fixed wireless, and 18% low-Earth orbit satellite.
To maximize the number of priority broadband projects, Pennsylvania determined that all applications would be subject to priority broadband project review rather than asking applicants to select for consideration. PBDA did not utilize a speed threshold as a determination for priority broadband projects. Instead, PBDA closely evaluated project area geography and density as factors that would represent challenges to the scalability of speeds over time to meet evolving connectivity needs pursuant to the priority broadband definition.
Comments on Pennsylvania’s plan are due August 29.
Wisconsin
The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) opened the public comment period on its Draft Final Proposal on August 22.
Of Wisconsin's total BEAD allocation of over $1 billion, the PSC's plan accounts for almost $692 of that funding to connect all homes in the state. Wisconsin plans to use this funding to connect 174,092 eligible locations and just over 1,200 CAIs. PSC's preliminary list of eligible locations under BEAD included over 206,000 locations.
Wisconsin's final proposal has a strong preference for fiber broadband (73.7%) to connect the un- and underserved in the state, with smaller portions going to LEO satellite (13.1%) and fixed wireless (13.2%).
Public comments are due on August 29 for Wisconsin's plan.
Conclusion
More than half of states and territories have released their Draft Final Proposals for public comment. Once they are submitted to NTIA for review, the agency has committed to completing its review of those proposals within 90 days.
We will be following along closely to see how states' plans have shifted as a result of the Benefit of the Bargain round and the NTIA approval process. Stay tuned for more coverage.
Special thanks to Reid Sharkey for contributing to this article.
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Weekend Reads
- Bridging the Gap: Funding Universal Service in the Broadband Era
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ICYMI from Benton
- How Did the ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ Change West Virginia’s BEAD Plan?
- From the Great Migration to Digital Equity: Trust, Discrimination, and Adoption
- The FCC's Latest Proposal to Update Pole Attachment Rules
- For Us, by Us: Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance Ignites Digital Opportunity in Western North Carolina
Upcoming Events
Sept 3––Examining Opportunities to Advance American Health Care through the Use of Artificial Intelligence Technologies (House Commerce Committee)
Sept 10––Consumer Protection and Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting (Federal Communications Commission)
Sept 10––2025 NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium (National Telecommunications and Information Administration)
Sept 16-18––Digital Access Research Forum (Federal Reserve Banks)
Sept 30––September 2025 Open Federal Communications Commission Meeting (Federal Communications Commission)
The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.
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