The wait for new BEAD rules ends, now the 90-day countdown for states begins

Washington, DC (June 9, 2025) - The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice late Friday afternoon.

It was a moment State Broadband Offices (SBOs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and others within the broadband space—Connected Nation among them—have waited for more than three months to see since the Commerce Department’s March 5 pause on the program’s $42 billion funding allocations.

Most SBOs were already deep within planning for the program when word of the pause came down. The Trump administration wanted to reexamine how the program, which is overseen by the NTIA, was being implemented.

In the policy notice, the NTIA states, “the BEAD Program has failed to put a single shovel in the ground since IIJA’s passage in 2021 —leaving many Americans unconnected.”  

It goes on to state that the policy notice provides, “much needed reforms to the BEAD Program that will realign the Program with statutory intent, speed broadband deployment, and guarantee that American taxpayers receive the greatest “Benefit of the Bargain” for their historic investment.”

So, what are the “much needed reforms” to the rules? Here’s a quick summary of some of the major updates in the 23-page BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice:

1. Elimination of the regulatory requirements in the original BEAD NOFO:
   
   1. Labor, employment, and workforce requirements
      1. This is mostly focused on DEI edicts
   2. Climate change requirements
   3. Open access/net neutrality
      1. This is related to the “consumer protections” section that required Eligible Entities to “ensure that prospective grantees” do not impose data caps on any plans offered”
   4. Local coordination and stakeholder engagement
      1. This is related to former obligations to “consult with representatives of various demographic and identity-based interest groups”
   5. Non-traditional broadband providers
      1. This eliminates requirements that “favored non-traditional broadband provides” (i.e., municipalities or political subdivisions)
   6. Middle class affordability plan
      1. The NTIA calls the former plan “confusing, arbitrary, and impossible to operationalize”
   7. Low-cost service option
      1. This specifically eliminates the “affordability and low-cost plans” section of the original BEAD NOFO
      2. BEAD subgrantees must still comply with the statutory provision to offer at least one LCSO, but the “NTIA prohibits Eligible Entities from explicitly or implicitly setting the LCSO rate a subgrantee must offer”
      3. In addition, the NTIA will only approve plans proposed by the subgrantees themselves
         1. Service requirements - remain at speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps and latency performed of no more than 100 milliseconds
         2. Eligible Subscribers – will be defined by the criteria of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Lifeline Program.
            
            
2. The new rules require “Technology Neutrality”
   This is one of the biggest changes to the original NOFO, which previously prioritized end-to-end fiber for projects. The new rules strike this focus and have redefined them with the following:
   
   Priority Broadband Project—The term “Priority Broadband Project” means a project that provides broadband service at speeds of no less than 100 megabits per second for downloads and 20 Mbps for uploads, has a latency less than or equal to 100 Mbps, and can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses and support the deployment of 5G, successor wireless technologies, and other advanced services.
   
   The change opens up the door for more technologies such as LEO satellite, terrestrial fixed wireless, and others so long as they meet the performance requirements.
   
   In addition, the NTIA provides new guidance on subgrantee selection saying the process must reflect the “technology neutral approach” and updates the scoring rubrics.
   
   
3. New “Benefit of the Bargain Round” required
   Eligible Entities must conduct at least one additional subgrantee selection round for every BEAD-eligible location, rescore under cost-focused, technology-neutral criteria, and choose the combination of proposals with the lowest program outlay per location.
   
   1. States must complete the Benefit of the Bargain Round and submit revised Final Proposals under the new guidelines within 90 days.
      
      
4. Optimizing BEAD locations
   The good news here is that states, which are tasked with implementing the BEAD Program, are not required to re-run their challenge process. However, there are some new requirements to ensure BEAD eligible locations are “accurate and to prevent overbuilding” of all privately, state, or federally funded locations: 
   1. Eligible Entities must investigate and account for location that do NOT require BEAD using a new “reason code process”
   2. Eligible Entities must modify BEAD-eligible location lists to include places no longer served due to a default or change in service area
      1. On that note – SBOs should be on the lookout for a list from the NTIA on default or newly eligible locations within 14 calendar days of the Policy Notice, which at our count is Friday, June 20.
      2. SBOs will be required to reassess those locations
   3. Because the new rules are now ‘technology neutral,’ Eligible Entities must account to unlicensed fixed wireless networks to prevent overbuilding.
   4. Eligible Entities must revise their list of Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) to reflect that the definition in the IIJA is no longer valid. The NTIA can refuse to approve CAI lists.
      
      
5. Other important changes
   1. Rescinding non-deployment funding – this is rescinded and is now under review. The NTIA states it will issue “updated guidance in the future.”
   2. Speedier permitting – the NTIA’s goal is to issue National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) approvals withing two weeks for 90% of BEAD projects
   3. All final proposals are rescinded - on page 16 of the new rules, the NTIA states that “all Final Proposal approvals that occurred prior to the publication of this Notice, as those Final Proposals no longer effectuate the goals of the Program or the agency priorities that are detailed in this Notice.”

The above is just a brief summary of some of the larger changes and does not include all updates. You can read the full document by clicking here.

As we mentioned earlier, the restructured policy was just released Friday, June 6,  and many SBOs and Eligible Entities, i.e., service providers, are right now trying to make sense of how it impacts their BEAD work.

Don’t try to work through the process alone.

Connected Nation has nearly 25 years in the broadband expansion and policy space. Our team of experts can help you understand these changes and respond with updated plans that will ultimately serve more Americans.

Contact us now at info@connectednation.org today, and let’s work together to revise your office’s plans in a quick, efficient, and timely manner.

Editor’s note: Our teams are working on providing additional analysis of these new changes and will provide those comments publicly in the coming days.