NTIA Greenlights 3 States' BEAD Plans

NTIA approved Kansas, Nevada and West Virginia initial proposals for the $42.5 billion broadband, equity, access and deployment (BEAD) program, the federal agency said Thursday. Approval of the second volume of the states' plans lets them request access to their BEAD allocations of $451.7 million, $416.6 million and $1.2 billion, respectively. They “have created strong plans -- reflecting their unique needs -- to deploy reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service across their states,” NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said. NTIA has approved both volumes of the initial plan for four states. The agency cleared Louisiana in December (see 2312150047).