The Office of Broadband Development held their Office Hours as planned. When planned, this meeting was going to talk about the next round of BEAD funding (round 11b) but that is on hold given concerns with federal perspective. Instead, the meeting focused on trying to answer questions and sharing the limited news available.
Notes from the meeting:
Digital Opportunity Termination Update
- Last Day was May 19, 2025
- Was $12 million for digital inclusion training
- MN did create a digital opportunity plan – although it will no longer be funded by the Feds
- DEED will also terminate the planned network of local experts
- An FAQ is coming
BEAD Updates
- Still going through applications
- It may be several weeks before Round 11B will be announced
- OBD has been informed of upcoming changes. Feds are looking to streamline and make it more technical – but not certain what that will mean.
Questions
I am hearing wide swings in when folks will get more info – from early June to July – do you have any idea?
We are hearing inconsistencies too.
We have a later final approval date for end of program. We’re still focused on October 3. Other states have earlier final dates. But other states have longer construction seasons.
Can you share more on what you’re seeing with overlapping applications? And what the process will be?
We have multiple applications overlapping in different ways. We want to be good partners – unfortunately, we aren’t sure on what the changes will be so it’s hard to give advice. There has been more overlap than OBD has typically seen in part rounds.
Do you know the timeline?
No but we assume it will take a time. And we may even come back to applicants to ask if they want to make changes or save the proposal for round two (11b)). If you have ideas or concerns, please send them.
In fairness to all of you, there’s a balance we’re trying to meet. We know that you have been working hard as well. We don’t want to dissuade anyone to participate – but we don’t know the changes. And we don’t have a lot of flexibility; we are tied to Volume 2.
It makes sense to not ask providers to make changes without knowing what the Feds are going to make in changes. There were providers who already decided this program was not right for them.
When is the next Office Hour?
The previously scheduled hours have been cancelled. We will schedule more when we know more.