North Carolina Reopens Prequalification Window For BEAD Program

June 4, 2025 – The North Carolina Department of Information Technology reopened its prequalification window Friday for internet service providers seeking to participate in its $1.53 billion BEAD program.

The NCDIT, under Secretary & State Chief Information Officer Teena Piccione, stated that it was “re-opening the window to encourage additional participation.”

Awarded $1.53 billion as part of the BEAD program, North Carolina, like every other state, has not yet received money from the federal initiative. Rather, NCDIT has used the $635 million awarded to it from the American Rescue Plan Act to build out broadband infrastructure across the state, and plans on using its BEAD funding to connect remaining locations by 2030.

Just as before, prequalification is not mandatory, but is strongly encouraged to help the NCDIT streamline the application process and ensure providers meet the program’s requirements. If providers do not qualify during the prequalification phase, they must qualify during the project application phase to be eligible to receive funding.

Application documents and guidance can be found on the agency’s website. The new deadline to submit applications is June 30, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

The future of the BEAD program remains up in the air. The Trump administration has frozen funds until at least the summer, while it reviews the program and seeks to make it more “technologically neutral”, including by possibly allowing states to use BEAD money on Starlink.

The administration also seeks to remove various diversity requirements from the legislation. Additional information on the future of the BEAD program is expected to be released by the Trump administration in June or July.