Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program – most often called “BEAD” – is the largest single investment in high-speed internet infrastructure in our nation’s history and is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). While BEAD is a national program, each state and territory will be implementing BEAD in their own way within the federal guidelines of the program. The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office (MIHI) is the entity implementing BEAD in Michigan. Read more about BEAD from the NTIA.

Michigan’s BEAD allocation is $1.559 billion, the fourth highest allocation in the country.

BEAD is designed to ensure that every one of Michigan’s unserved and underserved homes and businesses can get connected to reliable high-speed internet infrastructure. MIHI also plans to leverage BEAD funding to address issues of affordability, device access, digital skills and others that continue to create a digital divide.

BEAD will be implemented as a competitive grant program. Applicants will propose projects to build reliable high-speed internet infrastructure to connect unserved and underserved locations. Successful applicants will be awarded BEAD funding to construct those projects and provide service. See more in the next section on specific subgrantee selection questions.

Previous state grant programs that funded high-speed internet infrastructure expansion pitted one geographic project area against others as there was not enough funding to serve every unserved location. BEAD, however, needs to reach every unserved and underserved location and achieve the universal availability of high-speed internet. No one can be left behind. This creates unique aspects of the BEAD Program that set it apart from traditional internet infrastructure grant programs:

1. BEAD requires Michigan to develop a plan to connect every unserved and underserved home and business. MIHI anticipates that in addition to doing this, we will also be able to connect every Community Anchor Institution to the faster service that meets the needs they have to serve their community.
2. BEAD starts with identifying which locations need to be connected, before any funding is awarded. Past grant programs have allowed internet service providers to propose projects and used a comment and objection process to ensure that the funding was only being used to build to locations that need service. The implementation of BEAD starts with the State Challenge Process, which will be used to identify every unserved and underserved home, business and Community Anchor Institution – the locations identified as BEAD-eligible through the State Challenge Process are the only ones that will be built to using BEAD funding.

Unserved and underserved homes and businesses can be found throughout the entire State of Michigan, but, as you might imagine, are primarily located in our most rural communities.

A home or business is “unserved” if it does not have an internet connection available at a speed of at least 25/3 Mbps (25 Megabits per second download and 3 Megabits per second upload) from either cable, fiber or licensed fixed wireless technology. Based on data published by the FCC, we estimate that there are approximately 370,000 such homes and businesses in Michigan.

Similarly, a home or business is “underserved” if it has an internet connection available with a speed of at least 25/3 Mbps but less than 100/20 Mbps from either cable, fiber or licensed fixed wireless technology. There are approximately 125,000 such homes and businesses.

MIHI aims to design the BEAD Program to connect all of Michigan’s unserved and underserved locations.

A home or business is considered “served” if an internet connection is available with a speed of at least 100/20 Mbps (100 Megabits per second download and 20 Megabits per second upload) from either cable, fiber or licensed fixed wireless technology.

Schools and libraries and other similar organizations are considered Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs). BEAD funds can be used to connect CAIs to internet service; so long as there are sufficient funds to connect all unserved and underserved homes and businesses, then connections to CAIs that currently lack internet service that meet their needs can be funded.

BEAD empowers each state to identify which places and organizations are CAIs. Unlike for homes and businesses, the FCC does not 1) maintain a list or map of all CAIs or 2) collect data on the availability of internet service to CAIs. MIHI has identified a broad range of organizations that serve the needs of Michigan communities and can help expand the use of high-speed internet, including schools, libraries, healthcare facilities, public safety agencies, senior and community centers, government offices and other community support organizations including Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, childcare centers, agricultural labor camps, job training centers, homeless service agencies and foodbanks and zoos (aquariums, museums, wildlife centers and similar educational venues).

Our list currently includes more than 20,000 CAIs, most of which are in areas of our state where high-speed internet is already available. Because of their unique role as a “hub” for multiple users, CAIs must have a connection of at least 1/1 Gbps (one Gigabit per second for both download or upload speeds) to be considered served. MIHI estimates that only about one-third of the CAIs identified would be eligible to be connected using BEAD funds.

Internet service can be delivered using several different types of infrastructure. For the purposes of BEAD, the NTIA defines “reliable technology” as an internet connection delivering speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps using either cable (coaxial cable) technology, fiber-optics or licensed fixed wireless with a latency of less than 100 milliseconds (ms). Other technologies that can deliver high-speed internet include unlicensed fixed wireless, digital subscriber line (DSL via copper telephone lines) and satellite, however, these are not considered reliable technologies for the purposes of BEAD.

The BEAD Program begins with a Challenge Process. The Challenge Process will allow local units of government, non-profit organizations and internet service providers to help MIHI ensure that every home, business and CAI in the state is classified correctly as either unserved, underserved or served. See more in the next section on specific Challenge Process questions.

MIHI estimates that Michigan’s BEAD allocation will be enough to ensure connectivity to every unserved and underserved home and business as well as the eligible CAIs. Guaranteeing success will not be easy and it will take the creative, efficient and transparent collaboration among everyone in Michigan to make sure we can reach our shared goal of universal availability of high-speed internet for all Michiganders.

BEAD will take some time given the scale and ambition of the program. MIHI anticipates opening the subgrantee selection process in mid-2024. We then have one year to select subgrantees and finalize the use of funds. Approval of Michigan’s final list of subgrantees and the locations to be served is anticipated to occur in mid-2025. After final approval, subgrantees will have four years to complete their infrastructure projects and begin delivering service. BEAD also allows for a one-year extension on the construction time if needed.

The BEAD Program is primarily focused on enhancing high-speed internet infrastructure rather than specifically targeting cellular coverage. While BEAD’s main objective is not to directly address cellular network issues, improvements in broadband infrastructure can have indirect benefits for cellular services. Enhanced high-speed internet infrastructure may support better cellular services, especially in areas where such infrastructure can be used to enhance backhaul for cellular networks. Cellular users whose providers support Wi-Fi calling can also use high-speed internet at home for voice calling on their cell phones.

While BEAD is primarily focused on enhancing high-speed internet infrastructure, another goal of BEAD is to ensure all Michiganders are able to take advantage of such infrastructure when it is available. If Michigan is successful in building infrastructure to all of the state’s unserved and underserved homes, businesses and community anchor institutions, remaining funds can be used for non-deployment activities such as addressing challenges related to digital inclusion. MIHI has a Digital Equity Plan and is ready to use these funds, as well as funds from the Digital Equity Act, to address digital inclusion challenges in Michigan.

BEAD will be implemented as a competitive grant program. Applicants will propose projects to build reliable high-speed internet infrastructure to connect unserved and underserved locations. Successful applicants will be awarded BEAD funding to construct those projects and provide high-speed internet service to the previously unserved or underserved locations. Subgrantees are those awarded funding through the BEAD Program.

A wide variety of entities are allowed to apply to participate in BEAD including cooperatives, nonprofits, public-private partnerships, private companies, public or private utilities and local units of governments.

MIHI is working with NTIA to finalize the details of the subgrantee selection process. While a definitive date is not yet known, MIHI anticipates that the project application window of the subgrantee selection process will begin in mid-2024. MIHI anticipates opening a pre-registration period before the official beginning of the project application window to allow interested applicants to submit required registration information before the subgrantee selection process officially begins.

While still pending final approval by the NTIA, MIHI has proposed two grant application rounds. The first round will focus on receiving Priority Project applications while the second round can include both Priority and Non-Priority Projects.

The NTIA has prioritized the deployment of fiber-optic technology when designing the BEAD Program. Priority Projects are those that propose to build end-to-end fiber networks, including fiber connectivity to the customer, offering speeds of at least 1 Gbps download and 1 Gbps upload (1/1 Gbps). Non-Priority Projects are those that propose to build high-speed internet infrastructure using fiber-optic, coaxial cable or licensed fixed wireless technology offering speeds of at least 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload (100/20 Mbps).

Fiber-optic internet is widely regarded as the superior technology for accessing the internet due to its exceptional speed, reliability and bandwidth capabilities. Fiber-optics transmit data using pulses of light allowing significant data transfer rates. Fiber technology is less susceptible to interference which results in a more stable and reliable connection. Fiber networks can also handle higher bandwidth which supports the increasing demands of modern applications and online activities. Internet connections over fiber offer low latency (the delay in transferring data) that also enhances the internet experience. Finally, fiber-optic internet service can meet the connectivity needs of Michiganders today and 30-years from now given the ease at which speeds and throughput can be increased over time using the same infrastructure.

Many states are using pre-defined boundaries, such as counties, school districts or census blocks, to define project areas for BEAD. While this makes comparing competing applications easy, it also creates inefficiency in network deployment as broadband networks do not often conform to political boundaries or are split by road center lines. Conversely, allowing applicants to choose the individual locations they plan to serve as part of a project provides the greatest flexibility in project design, it can result in gaps in deployment and create heavy administrative burdens to deconflict overlapping project areas down to the individual location level.

While still pending final approval from NTIA, MIHI is proposing to generate and use a 1.5-mile hexagonal grid laid over the state that applicants will use to define their project areas. Once the Challenge Process is complete and the map of unserved and underserved locations is available (i.e. BEAD eligible locations), each eligible location will be associated with the hexagon covering that area. Applicants can select the hexagons they’d like to include in their project and will be committing to build infrastructure to all of the eligible locations within each hexagon included in their project. This method allows applicants to efficiently design network deployment projects while providing a standardized unit for MIHI to easily deconflict overlapping project applications.

Except in certain specific circumstances (i.e., projects in “high-cost areas” and other cases in which NTIA has waived the matching requirement), the BEAD Program requires high-speed internet infrastructure subgrantees to provide matching funds of not less than 25% of project costs. A matching contribution may be provided by the subgrantee, a unit of local government, a utility company, a cooperative, a nonprofit or philanthropic organization, a for-profit company, regional planning or governmental organization, a federal regional commission or authority or any combination thereof.

High-cost areas are unserved areas that the NTIA has identified as having a higher cost to build out broadband as compared with the average cost of building out broadband service in unserved areas in the United States (as determined by the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Federal Communications Commission), incorporating factors that include — (I) the remote location of the area; (II) the lack of population density of the area; (III) the unique topography of the area; (IV) a high rate of poverty in the area; or (V) any other factor identified by the Assistant Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, that contributes to the higher cost of deploying broadband service in the area. In high-cost areas, there is no match requirement. The high-cost areas in Michigan are limited, and can be found here.

Section III.B.4. of the BEAD Notice of Funding states that matching funds may be provided in the form of either cash or in-kind contributions, so long as such contributions are made consistent with the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards set forth at 2 C.F.R. Part 200. In-kind contributions, which may include third-party in-kind contributions, are non-cash donations of property, goods or services, which benefit a federally assisted project, and which may count toward satisfying the non-federal matching requirement of a project’s total budgeted costs when such contributions meet certain criteria. In-kind contributions must be allowable and allocable project expenses.

As noted in Section IV.B.5.b. of the BEAD Notice of Funding an “Unserved Service Project” or “Underserved Service Project” may include Middle Mile Infrastructure in or through any area required to reach interconnection points or otherwise to ensure the technical feasibility and financial sustainability of a project providing service to an unserved location, underserved location or eligible CAI. Projects that are Middle Mile only, and do not provide service directly to underserved or underserved locations, are ineligible.

To evaluate a prospective subgrantee’s record of and plans to be in compliance with fair labor practices, NTIA requires that MIHI:

1. Obtain and evaluate information on the prospective subgrantee’s record of compliance with federal labor and employment laws, as well as the records of any other entities that will participate in the project, including contractors and subcontractors, and
2. Require the submission of, and evaluate, the prospective subgrantee’s plans for ensuring compliance with federal labor and employment laws (NOFO Section IV.C.1.e).

Information on (1) the prospective subgrantee’s record of compliance must include:

1. Information on the entities’ compliance with federal labor and employment laws on broadband deployment projects in the last three years;
2. Data on prospective subgrantee’s historical use of contracting and subcontracting arrangements, including staffing plans; and
3. Examples of the contractor and subcontractor’s past performance in the context of a similar project.

Information on (2) the prospective subgrantee’s plan for ensuring compliance with fair labor practices may include:

1. How the prospective subgrantee will ensure compliance in its own labor and employment practices, as well as that of its contractors and subcontractors;
2. Information on applicable wage scales and wage and overtime payment practices for each class of employees expected to be involved directly in the physical construction of the broadband network; and
3. How the subgrantee will ensure the implementation of workplace safety committees that are authorized to raise health and safety concerns in connection with the delivery of deployment projects.

There are several ways to stay up-to-date on all things MIHI:

• Sign-up for updates via our newsletter.
• Contact us and tell us your internet successes or challenges.
• Join our Partnership Roundtable and help us implement our programs.

You can participate in the State Challenge Process by sharing information about any issues you have with broadband connectivity at your home or business or at a Community Anchor Institution you are involved with. Sign up for updates via our newsletter to get up-to-date information about when the State Challenge Process will begin. You can also look for updates from your city, village, township or county about being included in challenges they may be submitting on behalf of you and your neighbors. We currently expect to begin the State Challenge Process in February 2024.

If you support a specific grant application that is being proposed and would affect your home, business or CAI, you can participate in the Subgrant Process by giving the grant applicant a letter of support to include with their application. We currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024.

If what you want to do is keep track of what grants are awarded and when construction will be complete, please be aware that we currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024 and having a final plan for grant awards in 2025. In order to keep up to date when announcements are made, sign up for our email updates. We will continue to update information about the progress of each project throughout the build-out process.

You can participate in the State Challenge Process both by submitting challenges and by rebutting any inaccurate challenges that may be made against your service. If you do not already receive updates from MIHI via our newsletter, sign up to get information about when the State Challenge Process will begin. Once the State Challenge Process Portal is launched, register for an account to begin submitting challenges. Make sure that you have signed up for a Tier D CostQuest license in order to get access to all the information you may need.

If you are interested in applying for a BEAD Subgrant, then make sure you are signed up to receive MIHI email updates to ensure you have up-to-date information about timelines and the project design map we are developing. You can also plan to participate in pre-registration, which will allow you to submit basic information about your company in advance of when subgrant applications open. (Pre-registration is entirely optional but has been designed to increase convenience both for applicants and for MIHI, especially for those applicants who might be submitting more than one grant application.) We currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024 and having a final plan for grant awards in 2025.

You can participate in the State Challenge Process by submitting challenges. If you do not already receive email updates from MIHI, sign up so that you get up-to-date information about when the State Challenge Process will begin. Once the State Challenge Process Portal is launched, register for an account to begin submitting challenges. Make sure you are communicating with other local units of government with which you share constituents (I.e., cities, villages and townships should be communicating with their counties) to coordinate work. You may wish to sign up for a Tier E CostQuest license in order to get access to all the information you may need.

MIHI recommends that local units of government focus on “consequential” challenges during the State Challenge Process – that is, challenges that ensure that all locations that are unserved or underserved are identified correctly and, in places where they are appropriate, focusing on area and multi-dwelling-unit challenges. There is a statewide nonprofit organization, Merit Network, that is supporting many local units of government in preparing and submitting challenges.

If you support a specific grant application that is being proposed, you can participate in the Subgrant Process by giving the grant applicant a letter of support to include with their application. It is entirely acceptable (and encouraged) to provide letters of support to more than one grant application, if you do in fact support more than one application. It is entirely acceptable (and encouraged) to refrain from providing letters of support for any application that you do not in fact support. We currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024.

In order to support the success of any BEAD-funded projects that may be awarded in your area, we recommend at the conclusion of the State Challenge Process, you review the list of BEAD-eligible locations in your jurisdiction and consider what permits may be needed for those projects. We currently anticipate the conclusion of the State Challenge Process in mid-2024. Compiling the relevant materials, designating a point-of-contact who can help the grant recipient move through the permitting process and/or other steps that you may identify that could streamline the process can help ensure the success and speed of high-speed internet deployment in your community. ;

If you are interested in applying for a BEAD Subgrant, make sure you are signed up to receive our email updates, to ensure you have up-to-date information about timelines and the project design map we are developing. All applicants must meet the same qualifications as any other internet service provider.

If you want to keep track of what grants are awarded and when construction will be complete, be aware that we currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024 and having a final plan for grant awards in 2025. In order to keep up to date when announcements are made, sign up for updates via our newsletter. We will continue to update information about the progress of each project throughout the build-out process.

Michigan has identified a wide range of organizations that are considered Community Anchor Institutions. They include schools; libraries; health clinics, health centers, hospitals and other medical providers; public safety entities; institutions of higher education; public housing organizations; public-facing government facilities; agricultural labor camps; and a range of community support organizations.

Such community support organizations include senior centers, job training centers, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, community centers, homeless service agencies, food banks and pantries, zoos, aquariums, museums, wildlife centers, childcare centers and other organizations that offer digital inclusion services. CAIs should participate in the State Challenge Process by using the State Challenge Portal to verify that their location is correctly identified as a CAI (look for a triangle symbol, rather than the circle used to identify homes and businesses) and that its current service status is correctly represented.

Many CAIs are also nonprofit organizations, those organizations should also review the answer in the section of this FAQ regarding how nonprofits can participate in Michigan’s BEAD program.

You can participate in the State Challenge Process by submitting challenges. If you do not already receive updates from MIHI via our newsletter, sign up so that you get up-to-date information about when the State Challenge Process will begin. Once the State Challenge Process Portal is launched, register for an account to begin submitting challenges. We encourage you to communicate with local units of government for the individuals and communities you serve to coordinate your work in preparing and submitting challenges. You may wish to sign up for a Tier E CostQuest license in order to get access to all the information you may need.

MIHI recommends that nonprofit organizations focus on “consequential” challenges during the State Challenge Process – that is, challenges that ensure that all locations that are unserved or underserved are identified correctly, and in places where they are appropriate, focusing on area and multi-dwelling-unit challenges. There is a statewide nonprofit organization, Merit Network, that can provide advice about preparing and submitting challenges.

You can participate in the State Challenge Process by submitting challenges. If you do not already receive updates email from MIHI, sign up so that you get up-to-date information about when the State Challenge Process will begin. Once the State Challenge Process Portal is launched, register for an account to begin submitting challenges. You may wish to sign up for a Tier E CostQuest license in order to get access to all the information you may need.

MIHI recommends that Tribal Nations focus on “consequential” challenges during the State Challenge Process – that is, challenges that ensure that all locations that are unserved or underserved are identified correctly, and in places where they are appropriate, focusing on area and multi-dwelling-unit challenges. There is a statewide nonprofit organization, Merit Network, that can provide advice about preparing and submitting challenges.

BEAD Subgrants can only be awarded to fund deployment to locations on Tribal Land with the consent of the Tribal Nation. It is entirely acceptable (and encouraged) to provide your consent for multiple applications, if you do in fact support more than one application. It is entirely acceptable (and encouraged) to refrain from providing consent for any application you do not support. We currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024.

If you are interested in applying for a BEAD Subgrant, make sure you are signed up to receive our email updates, to ensure you have up-to-date information about timelines and the project design map we are developing. All applicants must meet the same qualifications as any other internet service provider. You can also plan to participate in pre-registration, which will allow you to submit basic information about your company in advance of when subgrant applications open. (Pre-registration is entirely optional but has been designed to increase convenience both for applicants and for MIHI, especially for those applicants who might be submitting more than one grant application.) We currently expect to begin taking grant applications in mid-2024 and having a final plan for grant awards in 2025.