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For the First Time, All States will have a Plan to Address Digital Equity

By Angela Thi Bennett, Director of Digital Equity, NTIA

Today, all 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico have submitted their Digital Equity Plans to NTIA for acceptance. This is a milestone moment in closing the digital divide. For the first time in our nation’s history, each state will have a plan to connect communities with the resources they need to achieve digital equity. That’s never been true before, and it’s an exciting indicator of how far we’ve come as a nation in acknowledging and addressing this challenge. 

BEAD Financial Capability Alternatives Policy Notice

The BEAD NOFO states that “Eligible Entities may, with the permission of the Assistant Secretary, allow prospective subgrantees that have the ability to issue public bonds (e.g., municipalities) to provide comparable evidence in support of their financial capabilities.” The BEAD Financial Capability Alternatives Policy Notice provides additional guidance to Eligible Entities regarding what information should be included in making such a request and the form such comparable evidence might take.

Stories from NTIA’s Office of Minority Broadband Initiatives and the Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program

The Connecting Minority Communities Pilot (CMC) Program is a $268 million grant program to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) for the purchase of broadband internet access service and eligible equipment or to hire and train information technology personnel.

Stories from NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program

The Broadband Infrastructure Program (BIP) is a $288M broadband deployment program for grantees who have formed partnerships between a state, or one or more political subdivisions of a state, and providers of fixed broadband service to support infrastructure deployment to areas lacking broadband, especially rural areas. The program launched in 2022 when NTIA made its first awards for the program and almost 2 years in, grantees have lessons to share and stories to tell.

Tailoring the Application of the Uniform Guidance to the BEAD Program

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), as the agency responsible for administering the BEAD program, provides herein guidance on the implementation of exceptions, adjustments, and clarifications to certain provisions of the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), codified at 2 CFR Part 200, and the application of related provisions of the Uniform Guidance to the BEAD Program. This Policy Notice is not a substitute for the terms and conditions of specific awards. Should this Policy Notice and the BEAD award terms differ, the terms and conditions of a specific BEAD award govern.
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