More BEAD Draft Final Proposals Are Released for Public Comment
Thursday, September 4, 2025
Digital Beat
More BEAD Draft Final Proposals Are Released for Public Comment
Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program draft final proposals continue to pour in as each state prepares to submit its final plans to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Each state is deciding how to connect its un- and underserved locations in what is called the Benefit of the Bargain application round.
Today's edition of this series covers ten more states' draft final proposals.
Wyoming
The Wyoming Broadband Office (WBO) released its Draft Final Proposal on August 22, and the public comment period closed on August 29. WBO plans to submit its final proposal to NTIA on September 4.
In its draft plan, WBO set out to close Wyoming's digital divide using a little over half ($198 million, or 57%) of its BEAD allocation of $348 million. Wyoming's proposal identifies almost 39,000 eligible locations to be connected using BEAD funds, whereas in its 2024 Initial Proposal Volume II, WBO identified almost 60,000 un- and underserved locations.
Forty percent of WBO's BEAD allocation will go to low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology. The remaining awards are a third (33%) for fiber and just over a quarter (27%) for fixed wireless.
Delaware
On August 25, the Delaware Broadband Office (DBO) released its Draft Final Proposal for public comment, with a comment deadline of September 2. Delaware was allocated $107 million in BEAD funding; this proposal plans to use only $13 million.
DBO counts 4,739 locations statewide as eligible for BEAD funding, about a thousand fewer than earlier estimates of BEAD-eligible locations.
Delaware's BEAD funding will go to fiber (80%) and hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) (20%) broadband infrastructure deployment, and to internet service providers Verizon and Comcast.
Georgia
The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 25. Georgia's BEAD allocation was more than $1.3 billion, yet the new BEAD proposal awards just $309 million. This means that Georgia may be leaving nearly $1 billion in funding on the table.
Georgia's eligible locations under this plan total almost 120,000, with 45 eligible community anchor institutions (CAIs).
GTA's proposal awards funding to serve 76 percent of eligible locations with fiber, 11 percent with LEO satellite, and 12 percent with HFC.
Georgia's public comment deadline was September 1.
Kansas
The Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) plans to spend over $252 million of its $452 million BEAD allocation through the Benefit of the Bargain application round. In KOBD's Draft Final Proposal, released August 25, 26,673 locations were listed as eligible for funding, including just 25 CAIs.
The technology breakdown in Kansas's BEAD plan is mostly split between fixed wireless (51%) and fiber broadband (46%), with a small amount going to LEO satellite (3%).
The public comment window on Kansas's plan closed September 2.
Maryland
The Maryland Office of Statewide Broadband (OSB) released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 25. In total, OSB plans to spend $78 million of its $268 million BEAD allocation––around 29 percent.
Maryland lists 9,013 eligible locations and 849 CAIs in its new plan. These locations will be connected using a diverse array of technologies, including HFC (40%), fiber (37%), and LEO satellite (23%).
The public comment deadline for OSB's plan was September 1.
Oklahoma
On August 25, the Oklahoma Broadband Office (OBO) released its Draft Final Proposal, outlining plans to spend nearly $500 million of its nearly $800 million in BEAD funding to connect 39,680 (including nearly 5,000 community anchor institutions) un- and underserved homes and businesses in the state.
Oklahoma's BEAD funding will connect about half (49%) of locations with fiber broadband, 16% with fixed wireless, and 12% with LEO satellite broadband.
By our estimates, there are 10,000 locations that OBO still needs to determine, with no awardees and no funding allocated to connecting them.
Public comments on Oklahoma's plan were due by September 1.
Washington
The Washington State Broadband Office released its Draft Final Proposal for BEAD on August 25. The state plans on spending almost $850 million of its total BEAD allocation of $1.23 billion, leaving $377 million unused.
Washington reports almost 70,000 eligible locations. Washington will connect its residents using fiber broadband (46%), LEO satellite (32%), and fixed wireless (22%).
Public comments on Washington's draft final proposal were due on September 1.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire's Draft Final Proposal for BEAD was released on August 26 by the state's Office of Broadband Initiatives, and the public comment period closed on September 2.
New Hampshire's total BEAD funding allocation is almost $197 million. Following the Benefit of the Bargain BEAD round, the state plans to use just $19 million––less than 10 percent of its funds.
Just over 5,100 eligible locations will be connected to high-speed internet using New Hampshire's BEAD funding. They'll mostly be served by fiber broadband (68%), with some to be served by LEO satellite (22%) and HFC (11%).
New Mexico
The New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and Expansion (OBAE) released its Draft Final Proposal to connect the state's 43,274 unconnected locations and 104 CAIs on August 26. OBAE plans to use $433 million of its $675 million in BEAD funding.
OBAE is connecting New Mexico's eligible locations using a mix of fiber broadband (44%), fixed wireless (40%), and LEO satellite service (16%).
OBAE submitted two waiver requests following the Benefit of the Bargain application round:
- OBAE submitted a match waiver. The office plans to approve four projects that do not have matching funds.
- OBAE also submitted a Tribal Consent deadline waiver. New Mexico is preliminarily awarding two applicants that, due to the accelerated timeline, were not able to get on the Tribal Councils' agendas to request Tribal Consent for those deployment projects. The state will submit the Resolution of Tribal Consent to NTIA as soon as possible after the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) transmits approval of the Final Proposal and will not finalize subawards for these two projects until Tribal Consent is obtained and reviewed by NTIA.
The public comment period for New Mexico's BEAD Final Proposal closed on September 2. OBAE plans to submit the final proposal to NTIA on September 4.
New Jersey
On August 27, the New Jersey Office of Broadband Connectivity released its Draft Final Proposal for BEAD. New Jersey was allocated over $263 million for BEAD-related broadband deployment projects; the state plans to award just $63 million.
The number of locations eligible for this funding totals a little over 11,000, as well as 464 CAIs. New Jersey is awarding funding to fiber broadband (44%), HFC (36%), fixed wireless (12%), and LEO satellite (9%).
Comments on New Jersey's final proposal closed on September 2.
More BEAD Plans to Come
At least 35 draft final proposals have been released to date. While some states and territories have closed their public comment periods and are preparing to submit their final plans to NTIA, others are still sourcing feedback from stakeholders on their proposals. Regardless, the states and territories continue to work on a tight timeline to finalize their plans and start connecting the unconnected using BEAD funds.
Special thanks to Reid Sharkey and Zoë Walker for their contributions to this article.
More in this Series
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