All 56 Federal Broadband Plans Approved. Construction Comes Next

The Commerce Department approved Illinois's broadband spending plan on August 25, completing approval of all 56 state and territory plans under the $42.5 billion BEAD program, according to NTIA head Arielle Roth. Illinois's plan was cut from an original $1.04 billion allocation to $831 million, with fiber locations reduced from over 117,000 to 97,000 while fixed wireless more than doubled.

Nationally, many smaller states saw their approved deployment spending slashed to a fraction of original Biden-era awards, with New England states and Nebraska, Florida and North Carolina among those cut to between 11% and 21% of original allocations. That leaves NTIA managing more than $21 billion in leftover non-deployment funds it has yet to explain how states may spend.

Some states are moving into construction: Michigan signed contracts with 17 of 29 selected organizations, Hawaii's buildout cost dropped from a projected $95 million to $31 million, and Virginia signed with 19 of 22 winners the same week it dropped a provider from projects meant to serve over 30,000 rural customers after missed deadlines. The FCC's earlier Rural Digital Opportunity Fund saw roughly a third of winning providers eventually default, a track record this program's post-signature phase will now test.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.