Office of Broadband outlines BEAD timeline and targets; providers warn federal rules could limit participation

St. Paul — The Minnesota Office of Broadband Development on Monday told the Senate Agriculture and Rural Broadband Committee that the state is preparing to submit its final Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and opened a pre‑qualification portal for internet service providers, with the first subgrantee selection round planned in March–April.

The announcement matters because Minnesota was allocated roughly $651–652 million in BEAD funds and must show that every unserved location it intends to serve will receive service before the federal money can be spent, Bridal Mackey, executive director of the Office of Broadband Development at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), told the committee.

Mackey said the state completed its NTIA-required challenge process and that the state’s mapping vendor and DEED are building a public layer so residents and providers can see BEAD-eligible locations. She said the state will submit its final list to NTIA no later than Oct. 3 and plans three subgrantee selection rounds, with the first round open only to fiber proposals.

“We just completed our challenge process,” Mackey said. “We are working diligently right now with our mapping vendor to get a layer on our…