States Advance BEAD Subgrantee Selection Amid Federal Uncertainty
New Mexico, Hawaii report strong provider interest as more states move to prepare final proposals.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 2025 — Despite growing uncertainty over potential changes to the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, states were pushing forward with subgrantee selection — closing application windows, reviewing competitive bids, and releasing data on provider participation.
New Mexico and Hawaii reported strong provider interest in recent weeks, even as speculation about new program guidance and shifting program priorities under National Telecommunications and Information Administration Administrator-designate Arielle Roth and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has left some broadband offices second-guessing what’s to come.
Here’s some recent activity:
New Mexico
First application window closed: March 24
New Mexico’s Office of Broadband Access and Expansion received 66 applications requesting more than $719 million for its $675 million BEAD allocation. The proposals spanned 144 unserved project areas in 31 counties and aimed to connect more than 31,000 unserved locations.
The BEAD bids received so far would collectively reach 74% of New Mexico’s estimated 70,609 unserved locations, according to federal and state data. New Mexico previously reported that 70,609 serviceable locations were completely unserved, with an additional 72,384 locations classified as underserved. Due to am "insufficient" BEAD allocation, the state prioritized only unserved locations in its BEAD program.
The proposals come from 18 entities, including 10 internet service providers, five cooperatives, and three Tribal communities. Of the 66 applications submitted: 53 proposed full-fiber builds, 12 were for fixed wireless projects, and one proposed a low-Earth orbit satellite solution.
Applicants collectively pledged more than $258 million in matching funds, bringing total proposed investment to nearly $1 billion.
“We are very excited by the number of applications and qualified candidates for this massive broadband infrastructure program,” said Drew Lovelace, acting director of OBAE. “These projects will change lives.”
OBAE plans to recommend awards to the NTIA by the end of July. Once approved by the federal government, selected projects must be completed within four years, under current program rules.
While New Mexico has received strong interest in its BEAD funding round, a parallel effort to expand satellite broadband access hit a wall last month. On March 19, the state legislature declined to adopt a proposal by OBAE that would have dedicated $70 million in state funds to subsidize free Starlink terminals for roughly 95,000 underserved locations.
Hawaii
First application window closed: March 14
Hawaii has kept its application details mostly under wraps.
However, in a communication to Broadband Breakfast, the state broadband office confirmed that it received “multiple bids” for each of its four designated project areas, structured under competitive Request for Proposals. The RFPs were issued for each of the state’s major jurisdictions: the county of Hawaiʻi, the city and county of Honolulu, the county of Kauaʻi, and the county of Maui.
“We’re hopeful that we're in alignment with proposed future directions to be announced by NTIA,” Garret Yoshimi, Vice President for Information Technology & CIO for the University of Hawaii, said in a statement to Broadband Breakfast.
“We're in the process of evaluating the set of proposals received to our competitive RFPs covering all project areas,” Yoshimi confirmed. Officials expect to release their final proposal for public comment in the coming weeks.
The state was allocated $149 million under the BEAD program to serve approximately 11,671 identified unserved locations. The state received Initial Proposal approval from NTIA in July 2024; therefore, its final proposal is due by July 2025, under current program rules.
Arkansas
Second application window closed: March 12
Third application window opening: soon
Arkansas released data from its second BEAD application round on March 26, revealing that the state was preparing for a third round — not because of too few applications, but because competition has been so intense that the state has too many.
“Competition has been so fierce in Arkansas, it necessitated an additional round of bidding,” said State Broadband Director Glen Howie. “Of the 36,000 locations still available for bidding going into Round 3, 80% of them received bids from multiple ISPs in Round 2. Provider participation in Arkansas has been incredible.”
Across Rounds 1 and 2, the Arkansas State Broadband Office reported selecting 271 preliminary bids from over 23 internet service providers, with projects covering more than 47,000 locations and totaling $248 million in grants. Nearly all proposed deployments — 97% — are for 100% fiber builds, with an average cost of just $5,210 per location.
“We are seeing the benefit of the bargain in real time on the ground here in Arkansas,” said Howie, who credited the state’s phased, market-driven approach for driving down costs and accelerating deployment.
The state expects to reach 100% of eligible locations within its $1.024 billion BEAD allocation. A third round of bidding is planned for the coming weeks to help resolve overlapping applications.
Arkansas anticipates submitting its final proposal to NTIA in July, which would place the state three months ahead of schedule.
CLOSED: Kentucky, South Dakota
Kentucky closed its first BEAD application window on March 16 but has been tight-lipped about provider participation or proposed projects. South Dakota’s deadline for its first BEAD application window passed on April 4, and its broadband office is expected to release additional details in the coming weeks.
CLOSING SOON: Michigan, Nebraska, Utah
Get ready for an influx of applications next week. Michigan is set to close its BEAD windows on Wednesday, April 9, with Nebraska and Utah following on Friday, April 11.
NOW OPEN: California
The California Public Utilities Commission announced Wednesday, April 2, that the state’s BEAD application window was now open. The state has $1.8 billion in BEAD funds to disperse, and applications are being accepted through the state’s portal until May 2.
Broadband Breakfast continues to track state-by-state participation as more data becomes available. See also the BEAD Grant Applications Tracker.
Broadband Breakfast
Jericho Casper
Jericho Casper
Jericho Casper
Jake Neenan
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the share of New Mexico’s eligible BEAD locations covered by current applications. The correct figure is 74% of unserved locations, not 44% of all unserved and underserved locations combined.
