The Bayou State is the first to receive full and final BEAD approval to proceed with broadband deployments
Louisiana is the first U.S. state to receive final BEAD approval for its plan to connect unserved and underserved areas via the federal Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Louisiana’s “Final Proposal” for BEAD has officially been approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is the last step in order for the state to be able to move ahead with signing contracts with the vendors that it has selected to do the deployment work.
The Final Proposal approved by NTIA lays out Louisiana’s plans on how to use the more than $1.3 billion that it has been allocated under the BEAD program, in order to connect more than 140,000 households and businesses across the state.
“Today marks a major milestone for the BEAD program, which puts states in the lead to deliver affordable, reliable high-speed Internet service to all,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson, in a statement. “Louisiana has an outstanding plan to close the digital divide. Today it can put that plan into action and start building the networks that will connect everyone in the state.”
The BEAD process involves NTIA approval of an Initial Plan for broadband deployment at the state or territory level, followed by opening up challenges to that plan, and revising it into a Final Proposal that has to go through public comment and then receive approval from NTIA.
While Louisiana is the first to have its Final proposal approved, Delaware and Nevada are likely to be the next states in the pipeline. Both of those states have already released their Final Proposals for public comment, which is the last step before the Final Proposals go back to NTIA for review.
All of the initial state and territory-level plans for broadband expansion had been approved as of last November. Most states, however, are either in the challenge process for their BEAD initial proposals, or are working on selecting Internet service providers who will be doing the deployment work.
The BEAD program is a $42.5 billion state grant program that garnered bipartisan approval as part of the Infrastructure Act passed in late 2021. BEAD funding will be used by states and territories to either deploy or upgrade high-speed broadband networks, with the aim of making sure that every American has access to the internet and closing the digital divide.
Any remaining funding that isn’t needed for network deployment can be used to bolster broadband adoption, training or workforce development.
The progress of all 56 U.S. states, territories and the District of Columbia is tracked on an NTIA dashboard, available here.
While much of the attention around BEAD has been on the BEAD state plans, the $42.5 billion program also includes other programs focused on connectivity that are already underway, including the Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program and the Middle Mile Program. Several projects for the Middle Mile program to expand network interconnection infrastructure have already broken ground.
