Louisiana Planning on Final BEAD Approval 'Any Day Now'

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2025 – Louisiana is expecting approval on its final spending plan for $748 million in broadband expansion grants “any day now,” the state’s broadband head said Wednesday.

“We’re planning to hopefully get approval any day now. Once that happens, we’re on track to signing subgrant agreements probably within the next 30 or 45 days,” said Veneeth Iyengar, executive director of Louisiana’s broadband office. He spoke at a Fiber Broadband Association webinar.

The state was the first to produce a draft of its final spending plan for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, a $42.5 billion federal effort to end the digital divide. Louisiana was allocated more than $1.3 billion, and is planning to spend its surplus cash, more than $500 million, on workforce development and other efforts. Its plan will have to be approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the federal agency tasked with handling BEAD.