On June 6, 2025, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) of the U.S. Department of Commerce released a Policy Notice restructuring critical aspects of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (“BEAD”) program, which was established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 to allocate $42.5 billion in federal funding for broadband infrastructure projects across the U.S. The Policy Notice changes key aspects of the program adopted in the NTIA's Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) issued in May 2022 under the Biden Administration.

The most significant and anticipated change to the NOFO is the elimination of the technology preference for end-to-end fiber deployments, making the program technology neutral. Specifically, NTIA eliminated the prior three-tier structure for prioritizing technology. Fiber-optic technology, cable modem/hybrid fiber-coaxial technology, LEO satellite services, and terrestrial fixed wireless technology utilizing entirely licensed spectrum, entirely unlicensed spectrum, or a hybrid of licensed and unlicensed spectrum, may now be used in applications for Priority Broadband Projects. Further, a “Priority Broadband Project” is redefined as a project providing broadband service of no less than 100 Mbps up and 20 Mbps down, with a latency of 100 milliseconds or less, and that can easily scale speeds over time to meet the evolving connectivity needs of households and businesses. 

Other significant changes to the BEAD application scoring, subgrantee agreements, and subgrantee reporting requirements include elimination of NOFO-related requirements regarding:

• Labor, employment, and workforce development;
• Climate change network resiliency;
• Open Access and Net Neutrality;
• Local coordination and stakeholder engagement, including the obligations to consult with demographic and identity-based interest groups;
•  Preferences for non-traditional broadband providers, such as municipalities or political subdivisions;
• State development and implementation of middle-class affordability plans;
• Rate regulation of the service provider's “low cost service option” (“LCSO”). An LCSO must still be available for certain low-income subscribers, which are redefined as those subscribers eligible for benefits under the FCC's Lifeline program.

      All States must rescind any provisional or preliminary awards and hold at least one additional competitive round of subgrantee bidding, called the “benefit of the bargain” round, prioritizing projects that provide the lowest cost per location.  The primary scoring criterion will now be deployment cost efficiency; secondary factors will include deployment speed, technical capability, and existing status. Further, States must apply to the NTIA and demonstrate that their initial and final BEAD plans meet the restructured requirements.

Eligible entities will have 90 days – until September 4, 2025 – to align with the new Policy and submit modified Final Proposals. NTIA will then review the proposals within 90 days.  Previously approved non-infrastructure activities (such as planning) are rescinded, and such activities no longer qualify for funding.

States must update their lists of eligible locations to remove areas already deemed served, including by unlicensed fixed wireless networks, and add locations affected by service defaults. NTIA will provide details regarding these updates by June 20.