Arkansas details $1 billion BEAD rollout to connect 84,000 homes and businesses

Glenn Howie, Arkansas state broadband director, told the Joint Advanced Communications and Information Technology committee that Arkansas has a $1,000,000,000 allocation under the federal BEAD (Broadband Equity Access and Deployment) program and plans to connect about 84,000 eligible homes and businesses across the state.

The BEAD allocation is part of federal IIJA funding administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Howie said the state opened an initial tranche of bidding and received strong interest from providers, and that the state will negotiate to ensure every eligible location is included in at least one grant award.

Why it matters: BEAD is the largest single federal broadband grant program aimed at closing the digital divide. Howie and committee members discussed how Arkansas’s design and competitive response will affect which neighborhoods get fiber and the timeline for construction.

Howie said the Arkansas State Broadband Office, established in 2019 within the Department of Commerce, has awarded $519,000,000 through three prior funding rounds (CARES, state and local fiscal recovery, and capital projects funds), covering 183…