More Than Half of States Posted New BEAD Plans Ahead of Key NTIA Deadline
Some states received extra time beyond Sept. 4.
August 28, 2025 – At least nine more states published final spending plans under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program by Thursday morning, bringing the total to at least 28.
According to guidance from the National Telecommunications and Information administration, states have to post drafts of those plans “no later than” Thursday in order to meet the agency’s Sept. 4 submission deadline. States have to accept public comments on their plans for at least seven days before formally submitting them for approval, although the NTIA reviews plans before states post them.
States were required to have a 14-day public comment window under the Biden administration, which was shortened to 7 days when the Trump administration issued new rules for the $42.45 billion program in June. States were put on an accelerated timeline to update their maps and conduct an additional round of bidding, dubbed the benefit of the bargain round, under the new parameters.
At least four states have officially been given deadline extensions by NTIA: California (Oct. 2), Texas (Oct. 27), Idaho (Sept. 25), and Oregon (Sept. 18). Meanwhile, Indiana’s broadband office told stakeholders Thursday it was “still diligently working on Benefit of the Bargain (BOB) applications and will be announcing preliminary awards in the near future,” suggesting it had also been given more time.
Member discussion