All states and territories secure approvals from NTIA on BEAD final proposals

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced Tuesday that it had approved the final state proposal for the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (BEAD) program.

Illinois received approval as the final state or territory in need of the rubber stamp from the federal government under the program’s new guidance, which was released last summer by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The new guidance required all states to revise their final proposals — even those that had already been approved under the Biden administration — and conduct another round of sub-grantee selection through a “Benefit of the Bargain Round.”

Illinois’ proposal was for $831 million, which would connect nearly 143,000 locations in the state, with a mix of 68.1% of locations receiving fiber, 23.6% receiving fixed wireless connections and 8.1% of the locations getting low-Earth orbit satellite. The proposal leaves over $169 million in non-deployment funds, though the NTIA has not yet released guidance on how states can spend those funds.

Many states diversified their new proposals to include technologies beyond fiber, like LEO satellite or fixed wireless, following Lutnick’s rule changes that eliminated program’s original preference for fiber. However, last month the NTIA alerted states that they were required to revise their satellite awards following updates to data that showed a drop in the number of BEAD eligible locations across the country.

California, which was the second to last state to be approved, received its final approval last month for $1.42 billion with 52.9% will going to fiber, 20.1% for fixed wireless and 27% for LEO.

NTIA said in a statement Tuesday that it will continue working with states and territories as they oversee BEAD deployment. The agency added that BEAD will be the “final federal broadband deployment program,” and stated that “the Trump Administration’s reforms have expedited deployment,” though critics have often claimed that the program changes have slowed deployment down.

“BEAD’s core mission is to ensure universal broadband availability across our country,” Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said at an event in Virginia commemorating that state’s deployment efforts Tuesday. “With all 56 Final Proposals now approved, we are achieving Congress’s vision of closing the digital divide once and for all.”