
Tranche-1 scoring and adjudication is complete!
Preliminary results have been released and are confidential. A Tranche-2 start date will be announced shortly.
Arkansas was 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 Arkansas BEAD Program is funding broadband infrastructure grants for internet service providers (ISPs) to build and upgrade high-speed internet to unserved and underserved homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions. The program will award grants covering approximately 84,000 locations.


*Arkansas challenge process results approved by NTIA as of November 22, 2024.
*Tranche-2 CBG reference prices updated as of February 13, 2025.
Census Block Group (CBG) Reference Prices and BEAD-Eligible Locations Are Now Available!
Please note the following:
Files available for download below include listings of CBG reference prices; BEAD-eligible broadband serviceable locations (BSLs) (unserved, underserved, and community anchor institutions (CAIs)); and served BSLs.
The listing of served BSLs is inclusive of funded BSLs subject to an enforceable commitment.
Tranche-1 CBG reference prices were based off of NTIA’s CostQuest data, and the minimum CBG reference price was $50,000.
Tranche-2 CBG reference prices were updated on February 13, 2025.
Files are available for download below.
CBG Reference Price and BSL Resources
*Approved by NTIA as of November 22, 2024. Tranche-2 CBG reference prices were updated on February 13, 2025.
Tranche-2 CBG Reference Prices
Tranche-1 CBG Reference Prices
Listing of Unserved BSLs
Listing of Served BSLs (File 1)
Listing of Underserved BSLs
Listing of Served BSLs (File 2)
Listing of BEAD-Eligible CAIs
Arkansas State Broadband Office Resources
Initial Proposal Volume 2
Arkansas’ BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2 has been approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Please see below for the approved document, which is the official document of record. Note, there is also a brief chart indicating written changes from the April 2024 draft Initial Proposal Volume 2 to the approved document.
See below for additional information:
Pre-Registration for Internet Service Providers
Pre-registration for internet service providers (ISPs) closed on December 27, 2024. Pre-registration for partnerships closed on January 3, 2025. ISPs that did not complete the pre-registration process are not eligible to participate in the Arkansas BEAD program.
The following ISPs/partnerships are pre-registered for Arkansas’ BEAD Program:
Amazon Kuiper
ARE-ON
Aristotle Unified Communications
Arkansas Rural Internet Services
Arkansas Telephone Company
Ashley-Chicot Electric Cooperative
AT&T
Bethesda Wireless
Brightspeed
C&L Broadband Connect, LLC
CableSouth Media 3 (DBA: Swyft Connect)
CG Computer Works LLC
Clay County Connect
Cleveland County Telephone Company
Comcast Cable Communications
Connect2First Internet
Conway Corp.
Cowboy Internet Services
Cox Communications
Decatur Telephone Company
E. Ritter Communications
Empower
Enlightened by Woodruff
Fiber Acquisition Operations Arkansas, LLC
Hometown Internet
IBT Group USA
Lyte Fiber
MCEC Fiber
Mountain View Telephone Company (Yelcot Holding Group, Inc.)
NATCO
Oklahoma Western
Ozarks Go
Partnership: E. Ritter Communications & NATCO
Petit Jean Fiber
Phoenix Long Distance
Premier Holdings
Resound Networks
South Central Connect
Southwest Arkansas Telecommunications and Technology, Inc. (DBA: Four States Fiber)
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation
SWATCO
Texhoma Fiber LLC
Uplink LLC
Wave Rural Connect
WEHCO Video
Windstream
Wiser Broadband III LLC
Wisper Internet
See below for additional information:
Technical Assistance
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:
Programmatic Resources (+ Supplemental Guidance)
Programmatic resources for Arkansas’ BEAD program will be listed below.
See below for additional information:
Report Fraud, Waste, and/or Abuse
Allegations of fraud, waste, and/or abuse are taken seriously by the State of Arkansas. Should you become aware of potential fraud, waste, and/or abuse in the BEAD program, the Arkansas State Broadband Office highly encourages you to report such allegations to our office, the Arkansas Department of Inspector General, or the U.S. Department of Commerce – Office of Inspector General. Please see below for a statement from the State Broadband Director and proper reporting information.
See below for reporting information:
NTIA Resources
Foundational Resources
NTIA has provided several foundational resources for the BEAD program.
See below for additional information:
Build America Buy America (BABA)
The U.S. Department of Commerce is publishing and maintaining a list of manufacturers where an officer of the company has certified that certain company equipment meets the domestic manufacturing requirements listed in the BABA waiver for the BEAD Program and can be considered compliant with the Buy America preference.
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: