NTIA Approves Vermont's BEAD Final Proposal, Unlocking Millions in Federal Funding

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved the Vermont Community Broadband Board (VCBB) Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The approval authorizes the state to move from planning to implementation of its $93 million federal broadband investment. Vermont was allocated almost $229 million through the BEAD program to expand high-speed, reliable broadband networks across the state to households that currently lack broadband access. NTIA’s approval allows Vermont access to $93 million of its allocation to deploy broadband statewide. The approved Final Proposal outlines Vermont’s competitive process for selecting internet service providers to receive BEAD funding and details the technical, financial, and service requirements providers must meet. Projects funded through BEAD will deliver broadband that meets or exceeds the federal performance standard of 100 Megabits per second (Mbps) download and 20 Mbps upload. Vermont’s subgrantee providers are Comcast, DVFiber, Fidium, Maple Broadband, NEK Broadband, SpaceX, and Vermont Telephone.