The BEAD program begins to bear fruit

On January 13, 2025, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its approval of Louisiana’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Final Proposal. Delaware’s approval followed the next day. With those two landmarks, coming as the fourth year since the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) begins to elapse, the BEAD program is at last beginning to bear fruit. As Louisiana and Delaware move toward signing contracts with subgrantee Internet Service Providers (ISPs), who should then initiate the construction of networks, one more state Final Proposal, Nevada’s, is being reviewed. Most states are well behind these frontrunners and are just getting started with subgrantee selection. But once BEAD network construction begins, it will only accelerate, probably hitting its stride in 2026 and 2027. For ISPs interested in contributing to the nationwide BEAD solution by expanding their coverage with its subsidies, now is prime time for preparing and submitting projects.