It’s crunch time for BEAD as paperwork comes due in September

It seems the 90-day timeline the current administration allocated for states to resubmit their Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program proposals has folks in the industry stressed. The new rules for BEAD program have put everyone on a very tight (and simultaneous) timeline. The new BEAD notice of funding opportunity was released on June 6 and state broadband offices have been scrambling to re-do their bidding processes and prepare the second versions of their Final Proposals—all before September 4. They’ve had to update their BEAD eligible location lists and reopen their pre-qualification processes for applicants under the new round of bidding that’s referred to as the “Benefit of the Bargain” round. Then, beginning on September 4, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will have to work the midnight hours to review everything, meet with representatives of each of the 50 states and six territories, and get BEAD disbursements out the door by the end of the year as promised by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Prior to all the changes from the Trump Administration, the process had been staggered with some states, such as Louisiana, ready to put shovels in the ground in January, and other states in various stages of readiness. Consultant Carol Mattey said, “Everything is jammed into this one date in September rather than a rolling timeline, funneling all the decisions into a single moment in time.”