Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program
The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program is a federal program that provides $42 billion nationwide to expand high-speed broadband access. BEAD was funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and is overseen by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA). BEAD prioritizes unserved locations that have no internet access or limited access under 25/3 Mbps and underserved locations that only have access under 100/20 Mbps.
Indiana was awarded $868 million in BEAD funds to ensure that every Indiana resident has access to high-speed, reliable, affordable broadband access.
Program Update
The Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) has preliminarily awarded Round 1 subgrantees of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, with over 90,000 locations, or about 70% of eligible locations covered.
The IBO preliminarily awarded 24 different providers with over 400 projects in Round 1.
These projects covered about 90,000 addresses with 100% fiber technology.
They were efficient with Indiana’s BEAD funding, with an average subsidy cost per passing of around $3,700.
With these awards, the IBO has allocated just 40% of its total BEAD dollars, with 60% still available for the next round.
Next Steps
The IBO will be working with the providers to create project areas with the remaining eligible BEAD locations for Round 2.
Awards will be announced publicly later this year after we have received provisional approval from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
IBO March 2025 Listening Sessions Wrap-Up
Throughout the month of March, the Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) traveled the State of Indiana with a series of public listening sessions.
From Posey to Noble counties, local community leaders, residents and internet service providers were in attendance to learn more about the BEAD Program and the opportunities that are being offered in their communities.
Find the presentation we conducted for our Listening Sessions here.
Subgrantee Selection Resources
Pre-Qualification Resources
BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2
The Indiana Broadband Office’s Initial Proposal Volume 2 was available for public comment until December 3, 2023. NTIA has approved Indiana's Volume 2 as of July 2024.
The Indiana Broadband Office (IBO) has an updated version of Indiana’s Initial Proposal Volume 2 for the Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program. This updated version includes amendments submitted to the NTIA that provide additional guidance on the Subgrantee Selection Process, as well as clarifying language based on guidance released by NTIA after Indiana's Volume 2 approval. To ensure transparency, all revisions have been highlighted in yellow.
This document adheres to NTIA guidelines, which are available for review here.
Initial Proposal Volume 1
Initial Proposal Volume 1 is available to download. It has been approved by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
This document adheres to NTIA guidelines, which are available for review here.
Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration offers several resources for internet service providers to access. They are found at the below links.
Indiana Office of Inspector General
The Office of Inspector General was created in 2005 and is statutorily charged with addressing fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement and wrongdoing in government including the BEAD program.
BEAD Five-Year Plan
IBO has submitted the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) Five-Year Plan plan to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to show how the state of Indiana can best incorporate digital equity into broadband planning.
