The Vermont Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (VT-BEAD) Program Full Proposal portal will be open until 11:55 PM on April 16, according to the Vermont Community Broadband Board.
Vermont is receiving $228.9 million from the BEAD Program.
Applications will be scored differently depending on whether they are defined as Priority Broadband Projects (“Projects that exclusively use an end-to-end fiber-optic architecture,” according to the Vermont BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2), or Other Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects (which do not use fiber).
The primary criteria upon which applications for the $42.45 billion program will be judged include:
- Minimal BEAD program outlay: Up to 31 points for both types of projects
- Affordability: Up to 30 points for both types of projects
- Fair labor standards: Up to 14 points for both types of projects
Secondary criteria for Vermont BEAD projects are:
- The level of community input and engagement: Up to 12 points for Priority Broadband Projects, up to 5 points for Other Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects
- Local coordination: Up to 11 points for Priority Broadband Projects, up to 5 points for Other Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects
- Speed to deployment: Up to 2 points for Priority Broadband Projects, up to 2 points for Other Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects
- Speed of network and other technical capabilities: N/A for Priority Broadband Projects, up to 13 points for Other Last-Mile Broadband Deployment Projects
Only entities that submitted pre-proposals for Vermont BEAD funds are eligible to participate in what the VCBB refers to as the Full Proposal Round, though the press release notes some exceptions:
- The full proposal is a priority broadband project for a final project area that received no priority broadband project pre-proposals.
- The full proposal is a priority broadband project for a final project area that did receive at least one priority broadband project pre-proposal, but none of the prospective subrecipients that filed priority broadband project pre-proposals meet the necessary gating criteria upon review of their full proposals.
- The full proposal is not a priority broadband project and is for a final project area that did not receive any pre-proposals.
- The full proposal is not a priority broadband project and is for a final project area that did receive at least one pre-proposal, but none of the prospective subrecipients that filed pre-proposals meet the necessary gating criteria upon filing of their full proposals.
- A new final project area has been created based on input received during the pre-proposal phase or during final proposal negotiations. Note: per the final project area data on the VCBB’s ArcGIS Hub, project areas 51-56 meet this criterion.
Last month, the VCBB said that virtually every eligible address in the state could be served by broadband service providers (BSPs) who have applied. BSPs who applied had to declare areas they would serve and whether services would be provided by fiber, cable, fixed wireless, or other approaches.
Additional information about Vermont broadband, including state funding resources, awards made, BEAD information, and state specific Telecompetitor coverage can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
