How the FCC National Broadband Map Impacts the BEAD Program, Part 1 of 3: Allocation of Funds

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) directs the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to use the Federal Communication Commission's National Broadband Map to determine how much money each state, territory, and the District of Columbia (which we refer to as “Eligible Entities” for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program) will be allocated in the BEAD program. The allocation formula set in the law includes three components: 1) a baseline of $100 million for each state and $25 million for each territory, 2) a calculation of the number of unserved locations in each state divided by the nationwide total of unserved locations, and 3) the number of “high cost” unserved locations in each state divided by the nationwide total of high-cost unserved locations.  The current version of the FCC map reflects 113 million broadband serviceable locations, eight million of which are represented as unserved (roughly 7% of the total).  Due to the size of the data set, it would take an outsized increase or decrease in the number of unserved locations within an Eligible Entity relative to the national total to have a significant impact on the final BEAD allocations. To ensure that the map we use for allocations includes the most high-quality data possible, NTIA, in conjunction with the FCC, has worked closely with states, territories, and other stakeholders to help them provide input to the FCC’s National Broadband Map. 

[05/04/2023]