Final BEAD Proposals Should Include Non-Deployment Plans: Consultant
NTIA guidance issued last week concerning final BEAD proposals doesn't provide details about non-deployment issues, but state broadband offices "shouldn't take that bait" and leave out non-deployment plans, wrote Jade Piros de Carvalho of Per Aspera Advisors. She said Friday that while there's an assumption that non-deployment information will be forthcoming from NTIA, state broadband offices that expect to have non-deployment funds available should include plans for that money in their final proposals. She also recommended that they include the provision that if those funds remain in the state's allocation, then it has the right to use them for activities outlined in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
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The NTIA guidance said final proposals -- unlike the two-volume initial proposals -- will be a single submission, describing implementation of the BEAD initial proposal plan as modified by the restructuring policy notice. States and territories have 90 days from the policy notice's issuance on June 6 to complete deployment subgrantee selection, get public comments on their final proposal and submit it to NTIA. The restructuring policy notice said fiber would no longer be prioritized (see 2506060052).