By: Hailey Farrow, Marketing Manager on behalf of CostQuest Associates.
Updated February 24th, 2023
Below is a high-level breakdown of the key information you need to know from NTIA‘s 98-page Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) document for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act‘s (IIJA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD funding program).
About the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD funding program) is a broadband grants program from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to provide financial support for:
- Broadband planning
- Deployment
- Mapping
- Equity
- Adoption activities
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is in charge of administering the BEAD funding program. A total of $42.45 billion dollars is available under the BEAD program with the goal to “lay the critical groundwork” for:
- Widespread access, affordability, equity, and adoption of broadband
- Create good-paying jobs; grow economic opportunities, including for local workers
- Provide increased access to healthcare services
- Enrich the educational experiences of students
- Close long-standing equity gaps, and
- Improve the overall quality of life across America
Who can apply for BEAD funding from NTIA?
All fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as U.S. Territories, can apply for grants from the BEAD program.
Where do Eligible Entities apply?
Complete Letters of Intent, Requests for Initial Planning Funds, Five-Year Action Plans, Initial Proposals, and Final Proposals all can be submitted through NTIA’s online application portal.
BEAD Funding Program Sequence
As outlined in the Infrastructure Act, the BEAD Program is sequenced as follows:
- Letter of Intent
- Request for Initial Planning Funds
- Five-Year Action Plan
- Program Fund Allocation and Notice of Available Amounts
- Initial Proposal
- Challenge Process
- 20 Percent Funding Release
- Subgrantee Selection Process
- Final Proposal and Release of Remaining Funds
- Ongoing Monitoring, Reporting, and Performance Management
How do Eligible Entities apply for BEAD funding?
Below are the steps Eligible Entities must take to apply for grants from the BEAD program.
Any due dates to keep an eye on?
- Completed Letters of Intent —–July 18th, 2022 —– Completed
- Request for Initial Planning Funds —– August 15th, 2022 —– Completed
- Five-Year Action Plan —– 270 days of receiving Initial Planning Funds
- NTIA plans to release Notice of Funding Amounts to Eligible Entities —– June 30th, 2023
- Initial Proposal —–Due 180 days after NTIA announces Notice of Funding Amounts
- Final Proposal —–Due 365 days after the approval of the Initial Proposal
What broadband projects is the BEAD program prioritizing?
The BEAD program will prioritize projects that are designed to deliver fiber connectivity directly to the end user. The program’s primary focus is on deploying broadband service to unserved locations (those without any broadband service at all at 25 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream/3 Mbps upstream) and underserved locations (those without broadband service offering speeds of 100 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream).
“NTIA has a strong preference that Eligible Entities also ensure deployment of gigabit connections to community anchor institutions such as libraries and community centers that lack such connectivity.”
*Note:
- This program will prioritize projects designed to deliver a fiber connection directly to the end user.
- All projects are required to offer a low-cost option to eligible subscribers.
- All States must have plans to address middle-class affordability.
- This program will also prioritize proposals that improve service affordability – since these networks are being built using taxpayers’ dollars. This is to ensure service is affordable and available to access by all Americans.
How much funding can each Eligible Entity receive?
“Each State is eligible to receive a minimum allocation of $100,000,000. They may request up to $5,000,000 of its minimum allocation in Initial Planning Funds.”
“U.S. Territories are eligible to receive a minimum allocation of $25,000,000. Each territory may request up to $1,250,000 of its minimum allocation in Initial Planning Funds.”
*Note:
After the broadband coverage maps have been published (FCC National Broadband Map), NTIA will then use these maps to determine the number of unserved locations in every State and Territory. NTIA will notify eligible entities of their total funding allocations (NTIA says by June 30th, 2023). Funding allocations are calculated in accordance with Sections 60102(c)(1) and (c)(3) of the Infrastructure Act, and inclusive of the minimum initial allocation and Initial Planning Funds.
How will BEAD funding be distributed?
“The Assistant Secretary will, in coordination with the Commission, choose a date certain upon which the Broadband DATA Maps will be utilized to identify unserved locations (the “Allocation Date”). Each Eligible Entity’s Total Allocation will be the sum of the Eligible Entity’s:
- Minimum Initial Allocation
- High-Cost Allocation
- Remaining Funds Allocation”
1. Minimum Initial Allocation:
Each State receives a minimum of $100M and Territories a minimum of $25M.
2. High-Cost Allocation
“The “High-Cost Allocation” for each Eligible Entity will be calculated by (i) dividing the number of unserved locations in high-cost areas in the Eligible Entity by the total number of unserved locations in high-cost areas in the United States and (ii) multiplying the quotient obtained by $4.245 billion.”
3. Remaining Funds Allocation
“The funds remaining after subtracting each of (i) the total Minimum Initial Allocations; and (ii)
the total High-Cost Allocation from $41,601,000,000 are the “Remaining Funds.”
“Each Eligible Entity’s Remaining Funds Allocation shall be computed by dividing the number of unserved locations (Broadband Serviceable Locations that lack access to reliable broadband service at speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream and latency level low enough to support real-time, interactive applications) in the Eligible Entity by the total number of unserved locations in the United States and multiplying the result by the Remaining Funds.”
Subgrantee Selection Process
Once States and Territories complete the Five-Year Action Plan, the Initial Proposal, conduct a Challenge Process, receive the Notice of Funding Amounts from NTIA, and their Initial Proposal is approved, they can then move on to the Subgrantee Selection phase of the BEAD process.
Eligible Entities can create a competitive Subgrantee Selection process and will have up to one year to conduct additional local coordination, complete the selection process, and submit a Final Proposal to NTIA. “The Eligible Entity may utilize the funding provided (not less than 20 percent of the Eligible Entity’s total grant funds) to initiate certain eligible activities before submission and approval of their Final Proposals.”
“Each Eligible Entity must establish fair, open, and competitive processes for selecting subgrantees. The selection of subgrantees is a critically important process that will determine which providers will bring service to all Americans, and in many cases, which entities will stand up and operate training programs and take other actions aimed at closing the digital divide. Eligible Entities’ selection processes must be made clear to potential subgrantees and must be described in the Eligible Entity’s Initial Proposal and Final Proposal.”
Where subgrantees come in
The terms “subgrantee” or “subrecipient” means an entity that receives grant funds from an Eligible Entity (all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, as well as U.S. Territories) to carry out eligible activities.
Once Eligible Entities establish “a fair, open, and competitive process for selecting subgrantees, perspective subgrantees can submit Initial Proposals for projects to provide broadband service to Unserved Service Projects, Underserved Service Projects, and Eligible Community Anchor Institutions (“last-mile broadband deployment projects”), and each Eligible Entity must apply a process” that abides by the principles listed on page 36 under section “ii Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects” of the BEAD NOFO.
Again, the BEAD program prioritizes projects that are designed to deliver fiber connectivity directly to the end user. The program’s primary focus is on deploying quality high-speed broadband service to unserved locations (those without any broadband service at all at 25 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream/3 Mbps upstream) and underserved locations (those without broadband service offering speeds of 100 Mbps downstream/20 Mbps upstream).
“NTIA has a strong preference that Eligible Entities also ensure deployment of gigabit connections to community anchor institutions such as libraries and community centers that lack such connectivity.”
Eligible uses of funding for last-mile broadband deployment projects:
- Construction, improvement, and/or acquisition of facilities and telecommunications
equipment required to provide qualifying broadband service, including infrastructure for
backhaul, middle- and last-mile networks, and multi-tenant buildings. - Long-term leases (for terms greater than one year) of facilities required to provide
qualifying broadband service, including indefeasible right-of-use (IRU) agreements. - Deployment of internet and Wi-Fi infrastructure within an eligible multi-family
residential building. - Engineering design, permitting, and work related to environmental, historical, and cultural
reviews. - Personnel costs, including salaries and fringe benefits for staff and consultants providing
services directly connected to the implementation of the BEAD Program (such as project
managers, program directors, and subject matter experts). - Network software upgrades, including, but not limited to, cybersecurity solutions.
- Training for cybersecurity professionals who will be working on BEAD-funded
networks. - Workforce development, including Registered Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships,
and community college and/or vocational training for broadband-related occupations to
support deployment, maintenance, and upgrades.
Non-Deployment uses of BEAD grant funding:
“As detailed above, an Eligible Entity that can demonstrate it has a plan for bringing affordable,
high-speed broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations within its jurisdiction
may also allocate funding to non-deployment activities. Such eligible non-deployment uses
include, but are not limited to, the following:
- User training with respect to cybersecurity, privacy, and other digital safety matters.
- Remote learning or telehealth services/facilities.
- Digital literacy/upskilling (from beginner-level to advanced).
- Computer science, coding, and cybersecurity education programs.
- Implementation of Eligible Entity digital equity plans (to supplement, but not to duplicate
or supplant, Planning Grant funds received by the Eligible Entity in connection with the
Digital Equity Act of 2021). - Broadband sign-up assistance and programs that provide technology support.
- Multi-lingual outreach to support adoption and digital literacy.
- Prisoner education to promote pre-release digital literacy, job skills, online job acquisition skills, etc.
- Digital navigators.56
- Direct subsidies for use toward broadband subscription, where the Eligible Entity shows
the subsidies will improve affordability for the end user population (and to supplement,
but not to duplicate or supplant, the subsidies provided by the Affordable Connectivity
Program). - Costs associated with stakeholder engagement, including travel, capacity-building, or
contract support. - Other allowable costs necessary to carrying out programmatic activities of an award, not
to include ineligible costs described below in Section V.H.2 of the BEAD NOFO.”
Read the full NTIA BEAD NOFO for more information
More resources
Disclaimer
NTIA and the FCC are not responsible for the information or views in this communication and are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such information or views.