Notice of Funding Opportunity: Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. The BEAD Program provides new federal funding for NTIA to grant to all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (States), as well as American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the United States Virgin Islands (Territories), and in certain circumstances political subdivisions of these States and Territories, for broadband planning, deployment, mapping, equity, and adoption activities. Funding is distributed primarily based on the relative number of “unserved” locations (i.e., broadband-serviceable locations that lack access to Reliable Broadband Service at speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream and latency levels low enough to support real-time, interactive applications) in each State and Territory. Each State is eligible to receive a minimum of $100,000,000 and each Territory is eligible to receive a minimum of $25,000,000.

Completed Letters of Intent must be received by NTIA through the application portal no later than 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on July 18, 2022. Upon submission of the Letter of Intent, the Point of Contact for each Eligible Entity may request Initial Planning Funds through the application portal. The portal will provide additional information about submission requirements for funding, including but not limited to standard forms and a budget narrative. All supplemental information must be submitted by 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on August 15, 2022.