Sens. Murkowski, Sullivan Celebrate Alaska’s BEAD Approval
Funds are expected to bring high-speed internet to more than 46,000 homes and small businesses across the state.
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2026 – After years of delay, BEAD funds are finally starting to roll out the door.
Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, celebrated the approval of their state’s BEAD proposal on Tuesday, announcing that $629 million in funds will be heading to Alaska to increase internet connectivity across the state.
The funding will support 29 development projects across 15 providers according to the Senators, and utilize a mix of technologies including fiber, wireless, satellite among others.
“For a state as vast and geographically diverse as Alaska, broadband access is not a luxury—it’s essential infrastructure,” Murkowski said in a statement. “This investment will help connect more of our rural and remote communities to reliable, high-speed internet, opening the door to expanded economic opportunities, improved access to telehealth and education, and stronger connections between families and communities.”
Sullivan added that Alaska’s unique geographic challenges not only makes broadband absolutely necessary essential services, but for connecting residents to one another.
NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth congratulated Alaska on its approval while continuing to highlight the “Benefit of the Bargain" reforms that increased the optionality of technology which in her view, serves the unique geography of the state more appropriately.
In their statement, the Senators said that NTIA is expected to provide additional guidance later this month on the remaining $389 million initially allocated to the state through the BEAD program.
These remaining funds are part of the $21 billion non-deployment pot withheld during the “Benefit of the Bargain” reforms that NTIA has yet to release to states. NTIA has been conducting listening sessions with the public to determine the best course of action for disbursement.
Guidance was initially expected today, but the agency decided it needed additional time to review input from the public. In a fireside chat hosted by the Technology Policy Institute on Tuesday, Roth indicated she wanted the remaining funds to go toward uses that were “outcome driven.”
Also on Tuesday, House Democrats also sent a letter to Roth requesting an immediate briefing on NTIA’s pending guidance for non-deployment funds before it is released to the public.
Member discussion