NTIA: BEAD Winners Can Continue to Receive Opex Subsidies for Existing Networks

Prohibition on operational subsidies 'applies only to BEAD-funded projects and does not affect existing subsidies in non-BEAD areas to which a provider is already entitled.'

NTIA: BEAD Winners Can Continue to Receive Opex Subsidies for Existing Networks
Photo of the U. S. Department of Commerce building from Jose Luis Magana/AP

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2025 – Participants in the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program won’t have to forego their existing federal subsidies in non-BEAD areas, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Rural broadband providers have expressed concerns over the newly announced plan to prevent BEAD winners from taking operational subsidies to support their deployment projects in the future.

In response to an inquiry about those concerns, a spokesperson for Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration gave the following statement to Broadband Breakfast Tuesday evening:

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