NTIA Planning to Finish BEAD Approvals by May
New notices of funding for the agency’s Tribal programs would come in late spring or early summer, a spokesperson said.
WASHINGTON, March 27, 2026 – The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is aiming to approve all state broadband spending plans by May 2026.
Just California, Illinois, and Oklahoma have yet to receive NTIA’s approval on their slice of the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program. NTIA was planning to approve those plans within 90 days of submission, a deadline that has passed for each of the three states.
NTIA told the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General that it “plans to approve all final proposals by May 2026.” The OIG published on March 19 the latest of its biannual reports on NTIA’s broadband funding programs.
