West Virginia has been granted a 90-day extension to submit its final proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA’s) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, Governor Patrick Morrisey announced late last week.
The press release notes upcoming changes to the BEAD program: “President Trump and Secretary Lutnick have stated their intention to implement changes to the BEAD program that give states greater flexibility to tailor the investment of BEAD funding to their unique needs, promote more technology-neutral approaches, and eliminate a variety of administrative mandates on states that do not advance the BEAD program’s core goals.”
According to the press release, state officials will use the additional time to work with federal partners and various BEAD stakeholders to finalize the proposal as quickly as possible. The said that doing so will put West Virginia in a good position to submit a final proposal that addresses the Program’s new focus and brings BEAD funding to the state.
The state says the extension will give West Virginia time to focus on how BEAD funding can be efficiently invested and leveraged to advance the state’s broader economic development goals. According to the press release, this includes attracting investment from AI hubs, microgrids, and data centers,
“Getting broadband service across West Virginia is essential to making this happen,” the release about the BEAD extension said, “allowing the state to evaluate a broader range of technology options, including satellite and mobile wireless technologies, in addition to fiber, will help West Virginia maximize the coverage of high-speed internet.”
Additional information about broadband in West Virginia, including links to state funding resources, awards made, BEAD news, state-specific Telecompetitor coverage and more, can be found on the Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
