State broadband officials on the Broadband Advisory Council on Thursday laid out the next phase of federal and state broadband spending, saying Virginia expects about 100,000 locations to be eligible for federal BEAD funding and that the state will open application rounds and a new Make Ready fund to protect projects funded with ARPA money.

The Office of Broadband said Virginia’s BEAD allocation is $1.48 billion and that the program requires states to identify solutions for eligible locations by the federal deadline. "We expect it to be around 100,000 eligible locations around the Commonwealth," a staff presenter said, explaining the number was reduced from an earlier estimate after providers built out additional locations and other federal programs captured service areas.

Why it matters: the BEAD program is intended to fund last‑mile infrastructure to unserved and underserved homes and businesses. The office warned that many of the remaining eligible locations are scattered, with some concentrated in a small number of counties. "Carroll County has twice more unserved locations than any other locality in the Commonwealth — 9,096 eligible locations," staff said, and Grayson County follows with about 4,500 eligible locations.

The office described the application process and scoring: a 150-day application window that begins once NTIA approves final location lists, with a 60-day period for providers to submit letters of intent followed by 90 days to file full proposals. Officials emphasized a federal preference for fiber and said local government letters of support will be an important part of scoring — worth nearly 10 points under Virginia’s approach.

The council also heard details of the Virginia Make Ready initiative, established in the state biennium budget to supplement at‑risk VADI (state) projects and keep ARPA-funded builds on track. "We can award up to $30,000 per mile for pole replacements, mid span pole installations, or to take previously planned aerial infrastructure and then trench that underground," an office presenter said, adding that the Make Ready application process opened with a webinar and that $7.5 million will be available per month for the first four months. By statute the Make Ready funds must be expended or the related obligations extended by June 30, 2025, the presenter added.

Officials also summarized how BEAD differs from Virginia’s VADI program: under VADI local governments apply and select providers; under BEAD broadband providers apply directly to the state to serve ZIP-code areas. The state said it expects multiple providers to apply for the same areas and that winners will be chosen by scoring and federal rules.

Questions from council members focused on timing and on whether nondeployment funding can be used for cellular coverage. Staff said federal guidance is still pending and that the decision will ultimately involve NTIA guidance and state budget discretion.

What’s next: staff said the state must produce a final BEAD proposal that identifies awardees for all eligible locations by July 2025, though they signaled they hope to complete the process earlier.