The first round of the Arkansas Rural Connect (ARC) Grant Program began in February 2020, using a combination of state general funds and federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. 

ARC Round 1 was administered over two tranches, totaling 76 projects awarded, $118,102,067.07 allocated in grant funding, and affecting approximately 55,700 homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions.

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The second round of the ARC Grant Program began in February 2021, using federal Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) Program funding. 

ARC Round 2 was administered over three tranches, totaling 87 projects awarded, $274,475,795.20 allocated in grant funding, and affecting approximately 54,000 homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions.

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The third round of the ARC Grant Program began in October 2022, using federal Capital Projects Fund (CPF) program funding.

ARC Round 3 was administered over one tranche, totaling 19 projects awarded, $126,434,535 allocated in grant funding, and affecting approximately 17,345 homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions.

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The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program will be the next broadband infrastructure grant program in Arkansas.

Expected to launch in October, the BEAD Program will fund broadband infrastructure grants to internet service providers (ISPs) to build and upgrade high-speed internet to unconnected and under-connected homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions. Unlike prior grant programs, the BEAD program will award grants for the entire State of Arkansas.

ISP pre-registration is now underway, and the Applicant Primer is now available.

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The Arkansas State Broadband Office requires state administrative rules to execute and administer the state’s broadband infrastructure grant programs.

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The Arkansas State Broadband Office is not the only government entity awarding grants in the state for broadband infrastructure deployment. Federal departments and agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) administer broadband infrastructure grant programs impacting hundreds of thousands of Arkansans.

Please note, the Arkansas State Broadband Office does not have jurisdiction over these grant programs.

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The new Arkansas State Broadband Map released earlier this year is the most detailed broadband map in the state’s history. The map details over 1.3 million locations in Arkansas and the internet options available and grant status of each location.

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For a variety of reasons, it may be possible that a home, business, or community anchor institution is not accurately represented on the Arkansas State Broadband Map. If your location is missing or misrepresented in some way, please click the link below for instructions on how to report the error.