The Missouri Office of Broadband Development (OBD) announced that the year’s first round of Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding is closed.
During this initial round, OBD received a total of 519 applications, which would bring broadband to more than 192,000 of the state’s residents and businesses. OBD said this represents 90% of the locations eligible for the funding. Nearly $4 billion in funding was requested. The next step will be for OBD to review those applications.
OBD advised applicants to be prepared to participate in the best-and-final offer process, for which the top two submitted scores for an application area are eligible.
OBD is also in the process of determining the areas which will be eligible for the second round of Missouri BEAD grant applications. All funding decisions are expected to be made by this summer, though OBD didn’t provide a more specific time frame.
While the initial round is closed, Sub-Round 1 has opened, with applications due by March 22. Applications may be filed to serve the 21,120 locations in 444 application areas that did not receive an application in the primary phase of Round 1.
The $300 million cap on applicant requests in Round 1 is being waived for Sub-Round 1; applicants may request as much additional funding as desired to serve these locations.
“This is a huge step as our office works toward the goal of connecting all Missourians,” said OBD Director BJ Tanksley in the Missouri BEAD update. “I would like to thank our team, the citizens who supported applications, and the provider community who took part in the application process. This amount of participation shows that Missouri is poised to reach 100% access.”
Tanksley has been a strong supporter of the BEAD program, as he told Telecompetitor earlier this year.
Other states are also announcing their BEAD funding details as they roll out, including, most recently, Washington.
Additional information about broadband in Missouri, including links to state funding resources, BEAD Program news, awards made, state-specific Telecompetitor coverage and more, can be found on the Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
A previous version of this article mistakenly reported that “Nearly $4 million in funding was requested.” The correct amount is $4 billion.
