The Idaho Broadband Office has announced 43 approvals of applications in the prequalification phase of the state’s Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program subgrantee selection. The 43 approvals — some of which are provisional — were from 45 applications that were submitted.
The state office stressed that selection in the pre-approval process doesn’t mean that the application will be selected in the final approval process.
These applicants are now invited to submit project applications for Idaho BEAD funding, once the application guidelines are released. Once those guidelines are released, the application window will be open for 45 days.
The state and third-party consultants will review applications before making the final awards. They also reviewed and approved the 43 that were selected in the pre-approval process. The Idaho BEAD prequalification applicants that were selected included Tribal entities and private and public telecom companies. The full list follows:
- Airbridge Broadband
- All West Communications Inc.
- Amazon Kuiper Commercial Services, LLC
- Anthem Broadband
- ATC Communications Inc.
- Blackfoot (formerly Fremont Telcom Co.)
- Blackfoot Communications Inc (d.b.a. Blackfoot Communications)
- Charter Spectrum
- Coeur d’Alene Tribe
- Concept Communications/CoreFiber (d.b.a. MiFiber)
- Cox Communications
- Custer Telephone Cooperative Inc.
- Direct Communications Rockland Inc.
- E.L. Internet Northwest
- EntryPoint Networks Inc.
- ETS Management, LLC
- Farmers Mutual Telephone Co.
- Fatbeam, LLC
- FyberCom
- IBT Group USA
- Inland Cellular
- Intermax Networks
- Kaniksu
- Latah County
- Midvale Telephone Co.
- Millennium Networks, LLC
- Mud Lake Telephone Cooperative Assoc Inc.
- Nez Perce Tribe
- Port of Lewiston
- Project Mutual Telephone Cooperative Assoc Inc.
- Rally Networks (formerly Oregon Telephone Corp.)
- RTI (Rural Telecom Inc.)
- Shoshone Bannock Tribes
- Shoshone Paiute Tribes*
- Silver Star Communications
- SpaceX
- Vickery IT, LLC
- Whitecloud Communications
- Wi-Fiber Inc.
- Ziply Fiber Northwest, LLC*
- Ziply Fiber of Idaho, LLC*
- Ziply Fiber Pacific, LLC*
- Ziply Wireless, LLC*
The * indicates provisional approval, which is “granted to applicants who have demonstrated substantial compliance with the program’s requirements, with only minor conditions remaining to be fulfilled for full approval.”
Decisions on those approvals will be made in 90 to 120 days. Idaho said it is committed to opening the BEAD funding application phase in the second quarter of 2025, though a more specific timeline has yet to be determined.
Idaho also reiterated its scoring criteria. For priority broadband projects, the criteria are:
- Minimal BEAD outlay:
- Matching funds above 25% minimum match: Up to 15 points
- Lowest average cost per location after match: Up to 35 points
- Affordability: Up to 15 points
- Fair labor practices: Up to 10 points
- Secondary criteria:
- Speed to deployment: Up to 5 points
- Open access network: Up to 7.5 points
- Local and Tribal coordination: Up to 6.5 points
- Equitable workforce development and job quality: Up to 6 points
For other Idaho last-mile broadband deployment projects funded through BEAD, the scoring criteria are:
- Minimal BEAD outlay:
- Matching funds above 25% minimum match: Up to 15 points
- Lowest average cost per location after match: Up to 35 points
- Affordability: Up to 15 points
- Fair labor practices: Up to 10 points
- Secondary criteria:
- Speed to deployment: Up to 5 points
- Speed of network and other technical capabilities: Up to 5 points
- Open access network: Up to 7.5 points
- Local and Tribal coordination: Up to 5 points
- Equitable workforce development and job quality: Up to 2.5 points
Additional information about Idaho broadband, including state funding resources, awards made, BEAD news, state-specific coverage, and more can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
