States Receive NTIA Green Light to Relaunch BEAD Application Portals

States have started receiving federal approval to relaunch their subgrantee selection processes under a compressed grant round of the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment program.  At least four states—Arkansas, Colorado, Michigan, and South Carolina—have announced they will relaunch their main application phase Monday, July 7. State broadband offices have been working around the clock to comply with a number of structural changes to the BEAD program announced by the Trump administration on June 6. Included in the BEAD restructuring policy notice issued by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration was the creation of the ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ round, updating how states and territories must carry out their subgrantee selection process for distributing funds.