BEAD key-dates calendar
The dates that matter in the US$42.45bn BEAD programme — upcoming deadlines and obligations, national milestones, and per-state dates — every entry dated and pinned to a named source. If a date matters to your application or deployment plans, verify it with the source linked: this calendar is a reporting aid, not legal advice.
Calendar opened 25 September 2026. Last checked: 25 September 2026.
How this calendar works
- Every date is sourced. No date appears without a link to the named source — an NTIA notice, a state broadband office, or named press coverage.
- Caveats travel with the entry. Dates marked as reported rest on press coverage rather than an official record; stated goal dates are a source's target, not a published deadline. We never upgrade a state's own label — provisional stays provisional. See how we cover BEAD.
- We exclude rather than guess. Challenge windows and application deadlines that states have not published are left out, not estimated. Per-state pages cover only states with publishable dates; the list grows as states publish.
- Stale is worse than missing. If maintenance of this calendar ever slips, we will take it down rather than mislead — that is the standing rule for this page. Spot something wrong or missing? Tell us — corrections are logged publicly on our corrections log.
Coming up
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— As reported
California: Governor Newsom's decision on the BEAD grant agreement
Signing the federal grant agreement — and any court challenge over the disputed conditions — rests with Gov. Newsom, with a decision due by end of September 2026.
Source: CPUC (via Communications Daily) — view the source
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— End date computed from the stated six-month mechanism; not a separately published deadline
California: six-month subgrant-signing clock ends
Once California acted on its revised Final Proposal (CPUC ratified 17 September 2026), the state had six months to enter subgrant agreements with providers — a CPUC-attributed mechanism.
Source: Fierce Network — view the source
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— The state's own words — a condition, not a published deadline
North Carolina: contingent awards must be contracted
The state's own caveat: "All awards are contingent until they are contracted by the division in 2026." No contract signings have been reported yet.
Source: Office of Governor Josh Stein — view the source
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— Stated goal in the 30 June 2026 FAQs; status unconfirmed
Florida: FloridaCommerce target for finalising subgrant agreements
FloridaCommerce's stated goal was to finalise BEAD subgrant agreements by July 2026. As of our 24 September 2026 watch, no contract signings have been published and the state's awards remain labelled "provisional".
Source: FloridaCommerce, Office of Broadband — view the source
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— A pledge reported in the state press, not a contractual deadline we have seen
Texas: subgrantees' 48-month deployment pledge
Texas BEAD subgrantees pledged to complete deployments within 48 months of award. Awards were finalised in June 2026.
Source: Industry Insider Texas — view the source
Watching — no date published yet
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No date published
Colorado: rebid of the $103m Maverix locations
After the Colorado Broadband Office rescinded Maverix Broadband's $103m provisional award (reported 21–22 September 2026), the affected locations will be rebid. No rebid schedule has been published.
Source: Colorado Broadband Office (via Wireless Estimator) — view the source
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No date published
California: final award list
The CPUC still thanks its "preliminary subgrantees" — no final award list has been published.
Source: Flip News watch, 24 September 2026 — view the source
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No date published
Alabama: finalisation of the "preliminarily approved" awards
Alabama's ~$460m award announcement carries the state's own label "preliminarily approved"; ADECA says finalisation follows NTIA approval, with contract development under way.
Source: Office of Governor Kay Ivey — view the source
National milestones
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— As reported
NTIA issues guidance on leftover BEAD funds
NTIA clarified that states may use remaining BEAD funds to serve locations missed in earlier rounds or that became newly eligible — the long-awaited leftover-funds rules.
Source: NTIA (via StateScoop) — view the source
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NTIA approves all 56 BEAD Final Proposals
NTIA announced completion of all state and territory Final Proposal approvals, with Illinois closing out the list.
Source: NTIA — view the source
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Restructuring 90-day deadline: Final Proposals due
States' revised Final Proposals were due to NTIA under the Restructuring Policy Notice.
Source: NTIA BEAD FAQs v15.0 — view the source
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NTIA issues the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice
The "Benefit of the Bargain" notice scrapped the fibre preference, imposed technology neutrality, rescinded all three previously approved Final Proposals, and set a 90-day final-proposal clock.
Source: NTIA — view the source
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NTIA announces BEAD state allocations
US$42.45bn allocated across 50 states, DC and 5 territories — Texas US$3.31bn, California about US$1.86bn, Florida US$1.16bn.
Source: NTIA press release — view the source
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Letters of intent deadline
States had to file BEAD letters of intent with NTIA; Initial Planning Fund requests were due 15 August 2022.
Source: Faegre Drinker — view the source
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NTIA releases the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity
The NOFO formally opened the programme — the starting gun for the state planning process.
Source: NTIA BEAD FAQs v8.0 — view the source
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Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act signed into law, creating BEAD
The IIJA (Public Law 117-58) created the US$42.45bn Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment programme.
Source: NTIA BroadbandUSA — view the source
By state
| State | Current status | Dates | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 17 final awards published (provider-level); all BEAD disbursements frozen pending audit | 6 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| Louisiana | 12 announced Benefit-of-the-Bargain awards; first state to sign subgrant agreements | 5 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| California | Proposal ratified 17 September 2026; award agreement not yet signed; no final award list published | 6 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| Florida | "Provisional awardees" only — no final award list, no contracts in FACTS | 2 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| North Carolina | "Approved BEAD Awards" published — but the state's own caveat says all awards are contingent until contracted in 2026 | 3 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| Missouri | Final Proposal NTIA-approved; the state's BEAD page still labels awards "provisional" | 1 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| Alabama | 63 projects announced as "preliminarily approved" — no final award list | 2 entries | 24 September 2026 |
| Colorado | US$103m provisional award rescinded after fraud referral; locations to be rebid | 2 entries | 25 September 2026 |
Only states with publishable, sourced dates get pages. States that have published nothing we can verify — most of the country, where awards still carry provisional labels with no documented timeline — are excluded on purpose. Our BEAD Money Tracker keeps the running watch on every state's award status.
What to read next
- BEAD key dates (PDF) — the printable version of the national milestone list.
- BEAD Money Tracker — the live awards dataset behind the state entries.
- BEAD county awards database — the county view of the same dataset.
- The BEAD timeline: 2021–2026 — the master chronological spine of the programme.
- BEAD public-documents archive — the primary documents cited on this page.
- How we cover BEAD — our sourcing, verification and labelling rules.