U.S. states and territories have until Sept. 4 to complete the next step in applying for Federal government broadband funding under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
The application deadline was announced by NTIA on July 21.
NTIA – which is a component of the U.S. Commerce Department – said the Sept. 4 deadline is for 56 U.S. states and territories to make their “final proposals” for subgrantee selections under the BEAD program’s “Benefit of the Bargain” policy directive issued on June 6.
The Benefit of the Bargain directive, according to NTIA, made “critical reforms” to the BEAD program, including eliminating “unnecessary regulatory burdens” and removing previous program rules that NTIA said favored some broadband technologies over others.
The BEAD program was approved by Congress in 2021 under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide up to $42.4 billion of funding to states and territories to help expand the availability of broadband internet services.
The program, as approved by Congress, focused on closing the digital divide by funding projects that build internet infrastructure, improving broadband mapping capabilities, increasing community outreach, and strengthening local broadband planning.
NTIA’s restructuring of the BEAD program in June temporarily halted progress on providing funding to states and territories under the program.
As part of the restart of the process under the Benefit of the Bargain policy directive, NTIA said it has reviewed and approved all of the revised funding proposals submitted by states and territories.
Those reviews and approvals have cleared the way for the next milestone of the project, which is the Benefit of the Bargain subgrantee selections.
The subgrantee selection process, NTIA said, “will ensure taxpayers receive the greatest benefit from their investment in broadband infrastructure.”
“It allows all technology solutions to compete on a level playing field, without the distortions of misguided technology preferences or extralegal, burdensome requirements,” NTIA said.
To help track implementation, NTIA has launched an updated BEAD Progress Dashboard, allowing the public to monitor how each participating state and territory is advancing through key program milestones, including the Benefit of the Bargain round.
