Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved Louisiana’s Final Proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris Administration’s “Internet for All” initiative to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service. Louisiana’s Final Proposal outlines its plan for using the more than $1.3 billion in allocated BEAD funding to connect 140,030 households and businesses. Louisiana is the first state to have its Final Proposal approved.

The incoming Trump administration should not pause the government’s $42.5 billion effort to end the digital divide, said Brandy Reitter, head of Colorado’s broadband office. There’s been speculation the Trump administration might alter some Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rules the GOP has been strongly critical of, from its fiber preference to its low-cost service requirement for low-income households served on subsidized infrastructure.

Private and federal broadband investments have achieved universal broadband deployment throughout the United States. Still, barriers that prevent some households from accessing the Internet remain. This lack of broadband adoption, not lack of deployment, is the central reason for the remaining digital divide. Therefore, identifying and addressing barriers to broadband adoption should be the core of broadband policy. One major barrier to broadband adoption is whether low-income households can afford it.

I’ve seen some vendors speculating that the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program is finally going to unleash a big pile of spending in 2025. I don’t want to be the one to burst their bubble, but even if the BEAD grants continue to move on the current path, there will not be a big wave of construction from BEAD this year.

Brightspeed says that it has received $238 million in local, state, and federal grants and funds. The money, the company says, will expand the number of addresses passed by planned projects by 121,000 in 14 states. Brightspeed, which is based in North Carolina, says that it will continue to pursue state and federal grants. The funding:

The Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s (LEO) Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) is advancing efforts to bridge the digital divide with the announcement of the project application period for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. Starting Jan. 9, internet service providers, communities and eligible participants will have the opportunity to submit project applications to bring high-speed internet to unserved and underserved locations across Michigan.

An impressive milestone is inching its way to completion in North Dakota.

Every day at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), we work to promote technology in the service of human progress. That has been the throughline of our actions on Internet connectivity, spectrum and tech policy.

A lot of internet service providers (ISPs) that seek grant money take advantage of in-kind matching rules. In-kind contributions recognize non-cash benefits of property, goods, or services that will benefit a grant project. Many grant programs allow in-kind matches to be used in calculating the matching funds being provided by a grant applicant.

On January 2, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published the Final Bead Alternative Broadband Technology Policy Notice to provide additional guidance to states and territories regarding the use of non-fiber technologies to serve unserved and underserved locations through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The BEAD Program is designed to deploy broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations