BEAD Challenge Process Policy

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)—as the agency responsible for administering the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program—provides additional guidance to inform the submission of Initial Proposals from states, territories, and the District of Columbia including the design and implementation of the BEAD Eligible Entity challenge processes. This Policy Notice elaborates on, but does not replace, the BEAD Eligible Entity (States, territories, and the District of Columbia) requirements outlined in the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that each Eligible Entity must adhere to for the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to approve its Initial Proposal. This Policy Notice includes eight sections:

1. Sequence of Events: This section outlines the sequence of events for the submission of the Initial Proposal, challenge process administration, and challenge results review.
2. BEAD Volume 1 Submission Process: This section outlines the timeline and process for submitting the BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 1 to NTIA for review and approval.
3. Existing Broadband Funding Requirements: This section outlines the requirement to identify existing efforts funded by the federal government or an Eligible Entity within the jurisdiction of the Eligible Entity to deploy broadband and close the digital divide, including in Tribal Lands.
4. Initial Location Data Requirements: This section outlines requirements for using the National Broadband Map prior to the initiation of the challenge process, including identification of unserved and underserved locations and eligible community anchor institutions.
5. Modifications to Location Classifications: This section provides an overview of the requirement to run a deduplication of funding process to identify and remove locations with enforceable commitments prior to the initiation of the challenge process and requirements for pre-challenge process modifications of the location dataset.
6. BEAD Challenge Process Design Requirements: This section outlines the requirements for the design and implementation of the challenge process.
7. Post Challenge Process Updates: This section notes that Eligible Entities may, but are not required to, update their post-challenge data to reflect updates to the National Broadband Map that occur after the conclusion of the challenge process.
8. Post Challenge Process Review: This section outlines requirements for submission of the challenge process results to NTIA for review.