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 September 1-5, 2025

 

 

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.

All of the following states have completed the public comment process for their draft final proposals and have prepared those proposals for NTIA submission. According to updated BEAD guidance, states and territories were required to submit their final proposals by September 4.

Arizona

The Arizona State Broadband Office released its Draft Final Proposal on August 27. The state plans to use $512 million of its $993 million in BEAD funding to connect 162,056 eligible locations and 1,481 community anchor institutions (CAIs).

Arizona's BEAD funding is spread across a few different technologies: the state is awarding its funds to deploy fiber (75%), fixed wireless (19%), and five percent low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite. Arizona plans to complete its BEAD-funded broadband deployments by 2029.

Hawaii

The University of Hawai'i's Broadband Office (UHBO)––which is spearheading the BEAD portion of the state of Hawai'i's broader broadband initiative, Connect Kākou––released its Draft Final Proposal on August 27.

UHBO was awarded almost $150 million to connect the un- and underserved in the state of Hawai'i. This final proposal allocates $95 million of that funding towards broadband deployment projects, leaving over $53 million on the table. UHBO lists 7,128 eligible locations and 25 CAIs in its plan.

The state of Hawai'i's BEAD proposal devotes the funding mostly to fiber broadband deployment (82%) and the remaining amount to LEO satellite deployment (8%).

Massachusetts

On August 27, the Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) released its Draft Final Proposal on how it will connect 2,596 eligible locations and 2,343 CAIs to high-speed internet service. While MBI was allocated $147 million in BEAD funding, the Institute now plans to use just $18 million of that amount, or around 12% of Massachusetts' total funds.

MBI will award 53% of its BEAD funding to hybrid-fiber coaxial (HFC) broadband technology, 25% to LEO satellite, and 22% to fiber broadband deployment.

Mississippi

Mississippi's broadband office, known as Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM), released its Draft Final Proposal on August 27. BEAM plans to connect 97,522 eligible locations and 97 CAIs to broadband using $567 million––less than half of Mississippi's BEAD allocation of over $1.2 billion.

BEAM's draft proposal awards the majority of these funds to fiber broadband deployment (86%), with a small portion going to LEO satellite (13%) and one percent awarded to HFC broadband deployment.

BEAM held a seven-day public comment window from August 27 to September 3 before it finalized its plan to submit to NTIA. However, to comply with Mississippi's statutory requirements, the office will continue to accept comments and/or objections until September 26, 2025 (one month from the release of the draft final proposal).

Nevada

The Nevada Governor's Office of Science, Innovation and Technology (OSIT) released its Draft Final Proposal on August 27, with the goal of connecting 26,869 un- and underserved eligible locations to broadband. OSIT plans to spend over $169 million of its total BEAD allocation of $416 million––leaving almost $247 million in remaining funding.

OSIT has provisionally awarded 18 different providers who will use fiber optic, HFC, fixed wireless, and LEO satellite technologies to deliver high-speed broadband to communities in Nevada. In total, over 64% of locations will be served by fiber, 29% by LEO satellite, four percent by fixed wireless, and three percent by HFC.

Rhode Island

ConnectRI, a program of the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation, released its Draft Final Proposal on August 27. Rhode Island's plan awards just $16 million of its $108 million in BEAD funding to internet service providers who will connect the state's 2,622 eligible locations.

The technology breakdown for ConnectRI's draft proposal includes around 80% for fiber broadband, 15% for fixed wireless, and four percent for LEO satellite. Over $13.5 million will go to TruAccess Networks, while Verizon will receive $2.4 million and SpaceX $171,000 for Starlink connections.

Iowa

The Iowa Department of Management plans to spend $221 million of its $415 million BEAD allocation on broadband deployment, per its Draft Final Proposal released August 28.

Iowa lists 42,933 eligible locations and 72 CAIs in its draft proposal. The Department of Management intends to submit waiver requests for the 25% non-federal match requirement for some projects.

The state plans to fund fiber broadband (51% of awards), fixed wireless (41%), and LEO satellite (9%) deployments.

Telecompetitor reports that Iowa has both an identifiable big winner—Mediacom, which will receive about nine times as much as the second-largest awardee—and one of the longest lists of awardees of any state, thanks to Iowa’s thriving landscape of rural broadband providers.

Kentucky

Kentucky's Office of Broadband Development (OBD) released its Draft Final Proposal on August 28. OBD's proposal accounts for nearly $377 million of its over $1 billion in BEAD funding, or approximately 34 percent.

Kentucky's 86,406 eligible locations will be served by fiber broadband (68%), LEO satellite (25%), and fixed wireless (6%). 

OBD accepted public comments until Thursday, September 4, the same day that states and territories were required to submit their final proposals to NTIA.

Minnesota

Minnesota's Office of Broadband Development, housed in the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), released the state's Draft Final Proposal on August 28. 

Minnesota's BEAD funding allocation totaled over $651 million. Following the Benefit of the Bargain round of BEAD, the state plans to use $380 million to connect its 74,668 un- and underserved locations, per the proposal.

Most of Minnesota's funding will be allocated towards fiber (56%), followed by LEO satellite (27%), and fixed wireless (17%). The state's largest funding award goes to Midco; the company received $79 million to connect 12,441 locations.

North Carolina

On August 28, the North Carolina Department of Information Technology released its Draft Final Proposal to connect 93,138 eligible locations and 374 CAIs in the state. To do this, NCDIT is using just over a quarter (26.5%) of its $1.5 billion in BEAD funding, or $408 million.

North Carolina plans to use four different technologies to connect its BEAD-eligible locations: NCDIT will fund fiber broadband (68%), LEO satellite (30%), HFC (1%), and fixed wireless (1%). AT&T has the largest funding award in North Carolina, totaling over $142 million. Brightspeed won awards totalling $90 million.

States Prepare to Submit Their Proposals to NTIA

The vast majority of states have submitted their final proposals to NTIA following their public comment periods. In some cases, like in Mississippi, public comments are still coming in after the state's final plan submission. And a few other states––like California and Texas, among others––received extensions so they can submit their final proposals in the fall. After submission, NTIA has 90 days to review each final proposal.

Special thanks to Reid Sharkey and Zoë Walker for their contributions to this article.

More in this Series

• More BEAD Draft Final Proposals Are Released for Public Comment
• Benefit of the Bargain BEAD Proposals Roll In

Quick Bits

• FCC Chairman Carr Looks to End Unlawful Biden-Era COVID Spending Program Expansion
• Pilot to Improve Broadband for Low-Income Households Through California LifeLine
• How big is the need for speed in the broadband market?
• Judge Orders Google to Share Search Results to Help Resolve Monopoly

Weekend Reads

• 2025 State Cybersecurity Legislation Report

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

Sep 8––The Kids Aren't Alright Online: Building a Safer, Better Internet (Public Knowledge)

Sep 9––5th Annual Augmented and Virtual Reality Policy Conference (Information Technology and Innovation Foundation)

Sep 9––Public Safety Communications in the United States (House Commerce Committee)

Sep 10––State of Affordability: A Webinar on Getting to Broadband Adoption for All (Benton Institute for Broadband & Society)

Sep 10––Consumer Protection and Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting (Federal Communications Commission)

Sep 10––2025 NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium (National Telecommunications and Information Administration)

Sep 10––AI’ve Got a Plan: America’s AI Action Plan (Senate Commerce Committee)

Sep 11––FCC Tribal Workshop: Minnesota (Federal Communications Commission)

Sep 15––Universal Broadband Services: Lessons Learned and Implications for the Future (Georgetown University)

Sep 16-18––Digital Access Research Forum (Federal Reserve Banks)

Sep 18––Boosting LEO Satellite Capacity: Is the FCC’s Launch on Target? (New America)

Sep 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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