The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has approved the full initial proposals for North Carolina and California for the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. North Carolina will have access to more than $1.5 billion and California will have access to more than $1.8 billion to fund BEAD projects. The states can now move to the implementation phase of the BEAD program, during which they can select providers and projects to pass the funding to. North Carolina and California will have one year to submit a final proposal that details the outcome of the subgrantee selection process and how the state will ensure service to all unserved and underserved locations. 51 of 56 jurisdictions have now had their full initial BEAD proposals approved.
