NTIA approves final BEAD proposals from 18 states and territories

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Tuesday announced it’s issued approvals to 18 states on their final proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. 

In a news release, the agency said that Louisiana has already signed its award amendment, allowing the state to become the first to access its BEAD funds to begin dispersing payments to internet service providers, to kick off work on expanding broadband access.

The states that received approvals were Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Wyoming and Virginia, along with American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.

The approvals follow the issuance of new guidance in June that restructured the program in a number of ways, such as by dropping the program’s original “fiber first” stipulation. This opened the possibility for states to spend on technologies like low-Earth orbit satellite service and fixed wireless. It also dropped what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick called “burdensome regulations,” like labor and employment requirements and climate reporting requirements. 

The new guidance also mandated states hold a “Benefit of the Bargain Round” of the program’s subgrantee selection process. After that process was completed, states were to submit their final proposals to the NTIA by Sept. 4. Following an analysis of the submissions, the final proposals were estimated to have left more than $21 billion in funds unused.

The agency said Tuesday these 18 states and territories cut about $6 billion from their original funding allotments. It claimed the leftover funds as “savings,” repeating claims officials made in September that the new guidance would deliver “savings of at least $13 billion for American taxpayer.” It’s unclear if the agency plans to return remaining funds to return to the Treasury or allow the states to keep the funds for nondeployment uses, as originally laid out in the program’s statutory language.

“We are delivering the Benefit of the Bargain through the BEAD program that best serves the interests of the American people,” Lutnick said in the news release. “After stripping away burdensome rules and regulations and wasteful requirements, taxpayers will save billions in unnecessary costs while connecting those in need to high-speed broadband through the full spectrum of broadband technologies.”

The June guidance did not offer new rules for how states could use the leftover funds on nondeployment items, and rescinded any spending approvals issued under the Biden administration. Federal lawmakers and governors alike have urged the agency to clarify the rules following the program’s restructuring. An NTIA spokesperson declined to provide additional information about what will be done with the leftover funds.

“The Trump Administration is on track to deliver universal connectivity in the United States once and for all, with huge cost savings for the American people,” Arielle Roth, an assistant secretary at NTIA, said in the release. “The Final Proposals approved today show that the Benefit of the Bargain reforms are working and that our focus on results and strong oversight is paying dividends for communities across the country.”