> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Some Remaining BEAD Funds to be Used on New Bidding Round - URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/some-remaining-bead-funds-to-be-used-on-new-bidding-round/ - Published: 2026-09-03T18:35:08.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-28T21:48:46.000Z - Description: NTIA said it would outline other allowable uses in a future update - Author: Jake Neenan - Tags: BEAD, nondeployment, Arielle Roth, FCC, Alaska, Dan Sullivan, #with-siderail WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2026 – The Trump administration is freeing up some broadband funding to serve rural locations not yet covered by a program aimed at ending the digital divide. States will use some of their remaining Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program funds on a new round of deployment projects, the administration announced Thursday. [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/97/29976d9d-89ea-4c77-8c0b-0e8a0eafed35/content/images/2026/08/250150_course_graphic_YT_wordmark_title-1.png)](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) [***Sign Up for FREE for Section A**](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) [Sign Up for FREE for Section A ](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/course/#bbb-offer) A new bidding round will be aimed at locations that were not marked as eligible for bidding last year, but still lack broadband service, according to [a new policy notice](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/content/files/2026/09/BEAD%5FSupplemental%5FDeployment%5FPolicy%5FNotice%5FEmbargoed.pdf) from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “Congress designed the BEAD program to be the final federal broadband deployment program, ensuring universal broadband availability for America,” NTIA Administrator **Arielle Roth** said in a statement. “Through this targeted use of funding, we are ensuring that we close the digital divide once and for all while also protecting taxpayer dollars.” The policy notice didn’t outline other uses of the remaining money, commonly called non-deployment funds, and said those would come “in subsequent guidance.” An NTIA spokesperson confirmed in an email that after [approving all BEAD plans](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/with-all-bead-plans-approved-states-and-territories-set-to-spend-18-2-billion-on-deployment/) last month, the agency still expected $21 billion to remain from the program’s $42.45 billion budget. That’s partly a result of Trump administration policies aimed at driving down deployment costs. Roth had told lawmakers the agency would release guidance on how states could use that money by the end of the summer. That guidance will also have to specify which states cannot access remaining BEAD money due to “onerous” AI laws. The agency said in the notice that most states and territories were still working on [final grant agreements](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/states-cant-unilaterally-alter-bead-contracts-ntia-says/) with BEAD winners, and that keeping its update related to deployment for now would ensure everyone stayed focused on universal broadband availability. Funding more projects to scoop up newly eligible locations was also a common theme of the large amount of input NTIA has taken on the issue, the agency said. The notice said NTIA “will continue considering other uses” for the remaining funding. Roth announced the new bidding round at a roundtable in Anchorage, Alaska with Sen. **Dan Sullivan**, R-Alaska, and local ISPs. It wasn’t livestreamed. In NTIA’s statement, the agency said more than 5,000 locations in Alaska could be eligible for the new bidding round. In all, the process the agency outlined could last nine months before the new projects are approved by NTIA . ### *Another challenge process* Per the policy notice, some locations that were not marked as eligible for BEAD bidding last year now don’t have a path to high-speed broadband. That’s a result of providers defaulting on other federal and state programs, misreporting by ISPs, and other changes to Federal Communications Commission broadband maps, the notice said. NTIA already conducted a final review that FCC map and create a list of eligible locations, which the notice said would be sent Thursday to each state broadband office (the review used the current FCC map, based on location fabric version eight, for coverage reporting but [remove any locations](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/satellite-bead-awards-to-be-reduced/) not marked as serviceable locations in the more recent fabric version nine). States will then have 30 days to conduct a review of those locations and make adjustments based on their knowledge of state programs and private deployments. Within seven days of completing the review, states will have to publicly post their updated location lists. ISPs, local governments, and nonprofits will then have 30 days to challenge those locations and ask for them to be removed from the list. There won’t be a rebuttal round like the original BEAD challenge processes in 2023, and the process can now only be used to remove already served locations. States will have to adjudicate those challenges 30 days after the window closes. In all, the refining process could take up to 97 days based on NTIA’s deadlines. ### *Cost cap* Those post-challenge lists of locations will then be submitted to NTIA, which will approve them. Based on the number of newly eligible locations and the average cost per location in the state’s approved BEAD spending plan, NTIA will set a cap on the amount of excess funds that can be used for the new round of deployment projects. A state can seek a waiver to go over that, but it “will be required to demonstrate extraordinary circumstances (i.e., that it has taken all practicable steps to complete deployment within its established amount, including consideration of the most cost-effective technologies).” After getting NTIA clearance, states will have 90 days to finish another round of bidding. The rules for that will be the same as the bidding rounds from last year held under new Trump administration rules. Funds will still be directed primarily at projects that demonstrate they can scale over time, and providers using any technology can apply for that priority designation. Once bidding is done and states have picked winners, they’ll submit their plans to NTIA, which will have another 90 days to approve them. State plans “will be scrutinized for excessive deployment costs based on the cost characteristics of the area to be served,” the notice said.