The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
It is a once-in-a-generation funding opportunity to promote high-speed internet access for underserved and unserved communities. The program aims to bridge the digital divide by providing resources to state, local, and tribal governments, non-profit organizations, and for-profit companies to support the deployment and expansion of broadband infrastructure.
Successful grand applications will prioritize projects that address equity issues such as impious broadband access for low-income households, rural areas and communities of color.
Below you can take a look at the timeline for BEAD. Read more about NTIA’s workforce planning guide aimed at helping individual states in establishing workforce requirements involving the program here.
