NTIA Presuming States Will Have Access to Non-Deployment Funds: Arielle Roth
No final decisions have been made about what happens with BEAD non-deployment funds, but NTIA "is operating under the assumption states will get to use BEAD savings," agency Administrator Arielle Roth said Tuesday at a Free State Foundation event. Guidance about the funds will likely come early in 2026, she said, noting that NTIA estimates that about $21 billion of the $42.5 billion allocated to states will go unused due to changes made to the BEAD program earlier this year, including dropping its fiber-centric focus.
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Roth said NTIA has signed off on nine additional states' final BEAD proposals: Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Those are on top of 19 states and territories that received NTIA approval last month (see 2511200041 and 2511180007).