New Hampshire

Today's big news is that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approved 18 Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program Final Proposals. As a reminder, we've been tracking what those proposals looked like when they were submitted to the NTIA. In the coming days, we'll be examining the final final (Is that what we should call them?) BEAD plans to see what changes were made during the approval process.

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.

Consolidated Communications is looking to discontinue legacy voice services at more than 45,000 locations in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Consolidated said the affected customers could be transitioned to a voice over internet protocol service on its fiber network under the company’s Fidium brand.

New Hampshire's $90 million broadband expansion plan to provide access to 48,000 unserved and underserved addresses across 115 municipalities has surpassed the halfway mark, according to the Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA). As one of the first states to receive approval for its broadband expansion program as part of the American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, New Hampshire awarded a total of $90 million in two rounds of funding, to connect a total of 48,016 homes and businesses by the end of 2026.

Grafton County, New Hampshire's second-largest county, began a $17 million project to construct a 200-mile fiber-optic middle-mile network. The initiative, led by the Grafton County Board of Commissioners and the county’s broadband committee, with infrastructure provider eX² Technology, aims to transform connectivity in 25 municipalities across the county that currently lack reliable Internet access. The project was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed the dire need for broadband expansion across rural Grafton County.

At last count, New Hampshire had about 31,000 unserved and underserved locations eligible for the $42.5 billion Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Matthew Conserva, New Hampshire’s broadband program manager, expects that number to drop considerably by the time the state starts taking applications for $197 million in BEAD funding allotted to it. The number of locations eligible for BEAD funding has been declining as deployments are made that were funded through various federal funding programs, Conserva said.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved and recommended for award applications from Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming, allowing them to request access to more than $100 million to implement their Digital Equity Plans. This funding comes from the $1.44 billion State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program, one of three Digital Equity Act grant programs created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The states can request access to: