NTIA to BEAD Winners: ‘Know Your Rights’

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2026 – The Commerce Department doesn’t want state broadband offices signing contracts with ISPs that alter requirements for a $42.45 billion grant program.

The agency told ISPs to notify a federal program officer if a proposed contract attempts to “alter a subgrantee’s rights or fails to include required language,” according to a memo posted Monday by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society. Subgrantees are what participating ISPs are called under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program.

“If a state omits or alters required language, it is out of compliance with BEAD requirements,” the agency wrote. “That puts the subgrant — as well as the state’s award — at risk.”