Arielle Roth Announces BEAD Approvals for 6 States and 2 Territories
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Mississippi, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are now BEAD-approved
WASHINGTON, Feb 9, 2026 – Arielle Roth, administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, announced Monday that six more states and two more territories had received approval for their proposals under the Broadband Equity, Access program.
That brings the total number of approvals to 50, just shy of the 56 final proposals.
“This milestone reflects the vision set by [Commerce Department] Secretary [Howard] Lutnick—a program driven by competition, efficiency, skin in the game, and better results for consumers,” Roth said in a statement. “NTIA is working diligently with states and territories to get the remaining six final proposals over the finish line so that we can deliver on our goal of universal connectivity for the United States, once and for all.”
This round of approvals included Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Mississippi, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
NTIA’s BEAD website includes more details on the proposals. See also Broadband Breakfast’s tracker of agency-approved connections by technology type.
Roth touted the savings under the “Benefit of the Bargain" revisions made to the BEAD rules in June.
And she highlighted the availability of $21 billion pool of remaining funds. While Roth said a decision hasn’t been made on how to allocate the funds, she did provide a framework that will be guiding decisions.
“NTIA would hope to accomplish the same principles that made the BEAD program and the ‘Benefit of the Bargain’ reforms so successful,” Roth said at the State of the Net Conference here. “[We will be] ensuring that the funds are spent in a manner that's fair to taxpayers.”
On Wednesday, NTIA will convene a listening session to gather input on how these savings can be used to maximize the BEAD program’s value for American taxpayers.
Member discussion