Delaware Enters BEAD Prequalification Phase

June 14, 2024 – Delaware announced that it is accepting applications for subgrants through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program on Thursday.

Delaware was allocated $107 million from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to build high-speed internet infrastructure to all underserved and unserved addresses in the state. 

The state is currently in the prequalification phase of applications where prospective applicants will submit detailed information about their capacity to build broadband grants. The Delaware Broadband Office will then review those pre-applications for operational, financial, technical, and managerial capacity.

Applicants that are approved for prequalification will then move to the scoring phase, where they will place bids on specific project areas. Delaware has not yet released a list of unserved and underserved broadband serviceable locations.

The Delaware Broadband Office said that it "is moving as quickly as possible to qualify for this funding and bring high-speed internet to all Delawareans." It added that "Delaware is one of the fastest moving states through this process, and Gov. John Carney has set the goal of Delaware being the first state in the nation to be fully connected to high-speed internet."

The state’s Initial Proposal volume one was approved in January. Volume one outlines how states will conduct the challenge process to state maps of broadband coverage and volume two dictates how the state will operate the subgrantee process.

The Infrastructure Act’s $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program makes money available to states and territories to expand broadband infrastructure, of which Delaware was allocated $107 million. States finished submitting their initial proposals for implementing the program on December 27, and the NTIA is now in the process of reviewing those proposals.