Arkansas has been allocated $1.024 billion through the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program.
The Natural State was one of only 19 states to be allocated more than $1 billion, ranking ninth in the country, per capita.
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.
DRAFT Census Block Group (CBG) Reference Prices Are Now Available!
Please note the following:
*These are draft reference prices, subject to change and NTIA approval. Prices will be finalized prior to the opening of Tranche-1.
*Files available for download include DRAFT listings of CBG reference prices; unserved, underserved, and served broadband serviceable locations (BSLs); and, eligible community anchor institutions (CAIs).
*There are ~900 CAIs which are still being finalized. Therefore, these CAIs are not included in the calculation of these DRAFT reference prices or the count of eligible CAIs per CBG.
*The DRAFT listing of served BSLs is inclusive of funded BSLs subject to an enforceable commitment.
*The DRAFT reference prices are based off of NTIA’s CostQuest data, and the minimum CBG reference price is $50,000.
Files are available for download below.
DRAFT CBG Reference Price Resources
DRAFT CBG Reference Prices
DRAFT Listing of Unserved BSLs
DRAFT Listing of Underserved BSLs
DRAFT Listing of Eligible CAIs
DRAFT Listing of Served BSLs (File 1)
DRAFT Listing of Served BSLs (File 2)
Arkansas State Broadband Office Resources
Initial Proposal Volume 2 (DRAFT – Not Approved by NTIA)
Arkansas’ BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2 document is still in draft form as it has not yet been officially approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce/NTIA. Please see below for the draft version as of April 2024.
See below for additional information:
Internet Service Provider (ISP) Pre-Registration
ISP pre-registration is underway. It is highly advised that pre-registration be completed prior to the start of Tranche-1 bidding. Pre-registration will take place within the Arkansas Broadband Grantor Portal. Potential ISP applicants will not gain access to the BEAD application portal until pre-registration is complete.
If you have any questions or issues with pre-registration, please email [email protected].
See below for additional information:
Technical Assistance (TA)
The Arkansas State Broadband Office is conducting BEAD Technical Assistance (TA) sessions twice a week during the month of September. If you are an ISP and have not received an invitation to these sessions, please email us at [email protected]. The resources linked below include the Applicant Primer, PowerPoint slides for each TA session, and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document that is updated on a weekly basis.
Please note, TA Session #5 was a demonstration of the application portal, and TA Session #9 served as a review of the FAQ documents to date. As such, there are no PowerPoint presentations for these sessions.
See below for additional information:
Application Resources
Resources that can assist an ISP with their BEAD application will be located here.
See below for additional information:
NTIA Resources
Foundational Resources
NTIA has provided several foundational resources for the BEAD program.
See below for additional information:
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance
NEPA compliance will be a requirement of the BEAD Program.
See below for additional information:
Cybersecurity & SCRM
There are certain cybersecurity and supply chain risk management requirements in the BEAD program.
See below for additional information: