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BEAD hub

The BEAD timeline: 2021–2026

One chronological spine for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment programme — legislation, NTIA guidance changes, state approvals, the 2025 restructuring and satellite fights, disbursements, and litigation. Every entry is dated and sourced; our newsroom links context from this page in new coverage.

Timeline opened 25 September 2026. 43 milestones, every entry dated and sourced; last verified 25 September 2026.

How this timeline works

  • Milestones only. National turning points and state-level firsts — not a news feed. Entries marked \u201c(reported)\u201d are dated to the report where the exact event date is not on the public record.
  • Labels are the issuer's. Provisional, announced and contingent awards keep the issuing office's own words, never upgraded by us. See how we cover BEAD.
  • Primary documents live next door. Where an entry rests on a primary document we archive — the restructuring notice, Louisiana v7.0, state press releases — it links into our public-documents archive.
  • Numbers cross-check against our datasets. Award figures on this page match the versioned releases in the BEAD Money Tracker and the county database. Spot an error? Tell us — corrections are logged publicly on our corrections log.

2026

  1. Colorado rescinds $103m provisional BEAD award to Maverix Broadband

    The Colorado Broadband Office terminated six grants after investigators found cancelled invoices, unpaid contractors and costs the state may not recover, referring the matter to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the US Treasury OIG — the first BEAD fraud referral. The locations will be rebid.

    Source: Colorado Broadband Office (via Wireless Estimator) — view the source

  2. CPUC votes 5–0 to ratify California's BEAD proposal

    The California Public Utilities Commission ratified the revised, NTIA-approved Final Proposal amid debate over “Condition 50” — federal terms advocates say would block California's net-neutrality law for 14 years. Signing the grant agreement, and any court challenge, rests with Gov. Newsom, with a decision due by end of September 2026.

    Source: CPUC (via Communications Daily) — view the source

  3. 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 “non-deployment” and leftover-funds rules.

    Source: NTIA (via StateScoop) — view the source

  4. NTIA approves all 56 BEAD Final Proposals

    NTIA announced completion of all state and territory Final Proposal approvals, with Illinois closing out the list — ending the post-restructuring approval sprint that began in summer 2025.

    Source: NTIA — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  5. Texas freezes all BEAD disbursements amid Starlink-favouritism audit

    State Comptroller Don Huffines placed an indefinite hold on BEAD funds after the Texas Tribune reported allegations that the Broadband Development Office gave Starlink an upfront-disbursement deal at Gov. Abbott's direction while other ISPs received instalments; lawmakers demanded an audit. Our tracker carries the disbursement-pause caveat on every Texas row.

    Source: Texas Comptroller / BDO (via Fierce Network) — view the source · See the Texas award rows in our tracker

  6. NTIA approves California's Final Proposal (49th state)

    With California approved, only Illinois awaited approval. The plan awarded $1.42bn for 270,571 locations — 52.9% fibre, 27% LEO satellite, 20.1% fixed wireless.

    Source: NTIA (via Fierce Network) — view the source

  7. FloridaCommerce publishes BEAD Post-Award FAQs (v22)

    Florida's Office of Broadband released its Post-Award Office Hours & Roundtables FAQs, version 22 — the state's living post-award guidance. The document uses the state's own label “provisional awardees” throughout; Florida still has no published final award list.

    Source: FloridaCommerce, Office of Broadband — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  8. Texas BDO finalises BEAD subgrantee contracts: 17 providers, ~$1.067bn

    Texas's final awards (down from $1.271bn provisional / 240,205 locations) went to 17 providers covering 208,873 locations for $1,067,572,760 — including Starlink's $108.8m for 63,887 LEO-satellite locations, the largest location share of any winner. Reported 4 June 2026.

    Source: Texas BDO (via Telecompetitor) — view the source · Transcribed in our tracker: 17 Texas rows

  9. First BEAD-funded connections go live in Louisiana and Nebraska

    Fixed-wireless BEAD towers went live in both Louisiana and Nebraska, marking the programme's shift from planning to deployment — 4.5 years after the IIJA created the programme.

    Source: StateScoop — view the source

  10. Nextlink activates the first BEAD-funded tower in the US

    Nextlink Internet switched on a fixed-wireless tower in southern Bienville Parish, Louisiana, delivering gigabit service to 104 BEAD locations in Bossier Parish — the first time any household had service via BEAD-funded infrastructure.

    Source: Nextlink Internet (via Light Reading) — view the source

  11. Gov. Ivey announces Alabama final-proposal approval: $460m to 15 providers

    Alabama's final BEAD proposal was approved, awarding ~$460m to 15 providers for ~92,000 locations. We carry the state's own label — “preliminarily approved” — until Alabama publishes a final award list.

    Source: Office of Governor Kay Ivey — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  12. Conexon Connect receives the first-ever BEAD funding disbursement

    Conexon Connect's ISP arm received an initial portion of its $9m Louisiana award to begin BEAD construction across six northern Louisiana parishes — the first BEAD dollars ever paid out.

    Source: Conexon (PR Newswire) — view the source

  13. Louisiana first state to sign BEAD subgrant agreements

    ConnectLA reported Louisiana signed subgrant agreements with providers — the first state to do so, moving from award announcements to executed contracts.

    Source: ConnectLA — view the source

  14. Gov. Kehoe announces $814m+ for Missouri broadband

    The release states NTIA approved Missouri's Final Proposal on 6 January 2026. The state's BEAD page still labels awards “provisional”.

    Source: Office of Governor Mike Kehoe — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

2025

  1. Gov. Stein unlocks $300m+ for North Carolina broadband

    The state's own caveat, recorded verbatim: “all awards are contingent until they are contracted by the division in 2026.”

    Source: Office of Governor Josh Stein — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  2. CPUC finalizes California BEAD plan; Resolution T-17898 adopted

    The California Public Utilities Commission finalized the state's BEAD plan and adopted Resolution T-17898, requesting approval to submit California's BEAD Final Proposal to NTIA. The Final Proposal was submitted shortly after, and approved by NTIA on 17 July 2026.

    Source: California Public Utilities Commission — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  3. NTIA approves Texas' BEAD Final Proposal

    NTIA's approval release was subtitled “Thanks to Benefit of the Bargain Reforms, Texas Saves $2 Billion while Achieving Universal Connectivity.” Texas was the 16th state approved that week; the proposal stood at ~$1.26bn covering 242,903 locations (50.6% fibre, 27.1% LEO satellite) — final contracted awards (3 June 2026) came in at $1.067bn for 208,873 locations.

    Source: NTIA — view the source · Final contracted rows in our tracker

  4. Louisiana BEAD Final Proposal v7.0 (document)

    ConnectLA's Final Proposal v7.0, dated 18 November 2025 — the post-restructure document whose version history incorporates NTIA's 6 June 2025 BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice. This is the document our Louisiana award rows are transcribed against; mirrored in our documents archive (1,056,907 bytes).

    Source: ConnectLA (via Flip News documents archive) — view on Flip News · The 12 Louisiana rows in our tracker

  5. Louisiana first state to win NTIA Final Proposal approval under Benefit-of-the-Bargain rules

    ConnectLA reported Louisiana as the first state approved under the restructured framework — the turnaround complete: the first state approved under the old rules in January was also the first approved under the new ones.

    Source: ConnectLA — view the source

  6. NDIA sues over Digital Equity Act repeal (adjacent litigation)

    The National Digital Inclusion Alliance filed suit in the D.C. District Court (Case 1:25-cv-03606) challenging the administration's unilateral termination of the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Programme. No state has sued over the BEAD restructuring itself — despite repeated litigation threats, the BEAD rescissions were never tested in court.

    Source: NDIA / U.S. District Court for D.C. (via GovExec) — view the source

  7. Louisiana names 12 new Benefit-of-the-Bargain awardees (~$499m)

    ConnectLA tentatively selected 12 awardees to share roughly $499m in rural broadband funding under the restructured rules — down from 21 provisionally selected under the original rules. Our tracker transcribes the per-provider announcement: 12 rows, $498,296,587, 126,798 locations.

    Source: ConnectLA (via Telecompetitor) — view on Flip News · Transcribed in our tracker: 12 Louisiana rows

  8. NTIA approves revised Initial Proposals of all 56 entities

    NTIA cleared every state and territory to begin the required “Benefit of the Bargain” subgrantee-selection round, with a 4 September 2025 Final Proposal submission deadline — compressing the entire rebuild of the programme into roughly six weeks.

    Source: NTIA — view the source

  9. Louisiana declares a state emergency to meet the Benefit-of-the-Bargain deadline

    Gov. Jeff Landry issued Executive Order JML 25-071, suspending state-law constraints so ConnectLA could redo its entire bidding round within the 90-day federal window.

    Source: Gov. Jeff Landry — view the source

  10. NTIA issues the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice

    The “Benefit of the Bargain” notice eliminated non-statutory requirements (labour, climate, net-neutrality, affordability, DEI), rescinded all three previously approved Final Proposals (Louisiana, Delaware, Nevada), imposed technology neutrality, and required states to run at least one new “Benefit of the Bargain” subgrantee round and refile Final Proposals by 4 September 2025. A 17 December 2025 GAO finding treats it as a rule subject to congressional review; it remains in effect.

    Source: NTIA — view the source · Archived in our documents archive

  11. Lutnick tells Senate: states get 90 days, funds out by year-end

    Testifying to a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, the Commerce Secretary said states must be “technologically agnostic” and provide broadband “at the cheapest price per user,” promising awards would flow by end of calendar 2025.

    Source: U.S. Commerce Department (via Benton Institute) — view the source

  12. Commerce Secretary Lutnick launches “rigorous review” of BEAD

    Lutnick's official statement declared the programme “has not connected a single person to the internet” and promised to rip out prior-administration requirements and revamp BEAD around a technology-neutral, lowest-cost approach.

    Source: U.S. Department of Commerce — view the source

  13. NIST sign-off delay freezes Louisiana, Delaware, Nevada

    At the Metro Connect conference, ConnectLA Deputy Director Thomas Tyler revealed that although NTIA had approved the three states' plans, ministerial sign-off by NIST never reached the grants office before Inauguration Day, leaving “officially approved” funds inaccessible — ISPs had “shovels ready to hit the dirt.”

    Source: ConnectLA (via Broadband Breakfast) — view the source

  14. Nevada's Final Proposal approved (third)

    Nevada completed the initial trio of approved final proposals just before the presidential transition.

    Source: NTIA (via Broadband Breakfast) — view the source

  15. Delaware's Final Proposal approved (second)

    Delaware received its NTIA Final Proposal approval the day after Louisiana.

    Source: NTIA (via Broadband Breakfast) — view the source

  16. NTIA approves Louisiana's Final Proposal — the first in the nation

    Then-NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson approved Louisiana's final spending plan (over $1.3bn), making it the first state cleared to move to network construction under BEAD.

    Source: NTIA (via Broadband Breakfast) — view the source

2024

  1. NTIA approves all 56 original Initial Proposals

    NTIA announced that all 50 states, DC and the five territories had approved “Internet for All” plans, completing the Initial Proposal phase and unlocking requests for allocated BEAD funds — before any state had won Final Proposal approval.

    Source: NTIA — view the source

2023

  1. Louisiana becomes first state with full BEAD Initial Proposal approved

    NTIA approved Louisiana's Initial Proposal Volume II — its subgrantee selection design for its $1.355bn allocation — the first state cleared to move from planning to implementation and request at least 20% of its funds, with one year to file a Final Proposal.

    Source: NTIA (via Benton Institute) — view the source

  2. Louisiana first state to win approval of BEAD Initial Proposal Volume I

    NTIA approved Louisiana's Volume I (existing funding inventory, anchor institutions, and the broadband-data challenge process), making it the first state through the gate.

    Source: NTIA (via Broadband Breakfast) — view the source

  3. Formal Notices of Available Amounts issued to eligible entities

    NTIA issued formal allocation notices to all 56 eligible entities, opening the Initial Proposal submission window (1 July–27 December 2023); approved states could then request at least 20% of their allocation. This is the formal notice — distinct from the 26 June public announcement.

    Source: NTIA — view the source

  4. White House and NTIA announce BEAD state allocations

    President Biden and NTIA announced the $42.45bn split across all states and territories: Texas $3.3bn (largest), California $1.86bn, Missouri ~$1.74bn, Florida ~$1.17bn — 19 states above $1bn; territories as low as $27m (US Virgin Islands).

    Source: White House / NTIA (via Wiley) — view the source

  5. FCC releases National Broadband Map, Version 2

    The updated map (Fabric V2; provider data as of 31 December 2022; over 4 million availability challenges processed) found 8.3 million unserved locations — and was the version NTIA used to compute BEAD allocations.

    Source: FCC (via Light Reading) — view the source

2022

  1. FCC releases pre-production draft National Broadband Map

    The FCC unveiled the first location-by-location National Broadband Map (data as of 30 June 2022) and opened the public challenge process. NTIA simultaneously committed to announce BEAD allocations by 30 June 2023 using the corrected map. This first map was explicitly a pre-production draft, not a finished map.

    Source: FCC / NTIA — view the source

  2. Louisiana becomes first state awarded BEAD planning funds

    NTIA announced Louisiana as the first “Internet for All” planning-grant recipient — $2m BEAD planning plus ~$941,542 digital equity planning — kicking off the rolling rollout to all states and territories.

    Source: NTIA (via StateScoop) — view the source

  3. Initial Planning Funds request deadline

    States could request up to $5m (territories $1.25m) in BEAD Initial Planning Funds for broadband-office build-out, mapping, surveys and outreach; all 50 states, five territories and DC applied.

    Source: NTIA (via Faegre Drinker NOFO analysis) — view the source

  4. Letter of Intent deadline

    States and territories had to file letters of intent to participate in BEAD by this date; by July all 50 states had declared intent, making all eligible for planning grants.

    Source: NTIA (via Faegre Drinker NOFO analysis) — view the source

  5. FCC opens inaugural Broadband Data Collection filing window

    The Broadband Data Task Force opened the first BDC filing window; facilities-based providers began reporting service-availability data as of 30 June 2022 — the data that would underpin BEAD allocation decisions.

    Source: FCC — view the source

  6. NTIA releases the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity

    NTIA issued the BEAD NOFO (alongside Middle Mile and Digital Equity planning NOFOs), setting the state rules: $100m minimum per state, $25m per territory, LOI and planning-fund deadlines, and formula allocation tied to FCC broadband maps.

    Source: NTIA (via Wiley) — view the source

2021

  1. IIJA signed into law, creating BEAD ($42.45bn)

    President Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (P.L. 117-58), establishing the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment programme — $42.45bn administered by NTIA, the largest single federal broadband investment in US history.

    Source: NTIA — view the source · Background: our BEAD explainers

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