Skip to content
National Association of Attorneys General
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Anticorruption
      • Antitrust
      • Bankruptcy
      • Charities
      • Civil Law
    • Issues
      • Consumer Protection
      • Criminal Law
      • Cyber and Technology
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Elder Justice
    • Issues
      • Ethics
      • Human Trafficking
      • Medicaid Fraud
      • Opioids
      • Powers & Duties
    • Issues
      • Public Health
      • The U.S. Supreme Court
      • Tobacco
      • Veterans & Military
  • Our Work
    • Training & Research
    • Centers
      • Center for Consumer Protection
      • Center for Supreme Court Advocacy
      • Center for Tobacco & Public Health
    • Committees
    • Initiatives
      • Presidential Initiative
      • Strategic Partnerships
      • International Fellows
      • COVID-19
    • Bankruptcy
    • Policy & Advocacy
  • Events & Training
    • Event Calendar
    • Attorney General Symposium
    • Presidential Summit
    • Capital Forum
    • Region Meetings
    • CLE Credit
    • NAAG Trainings
    • Online Learning
    • NAMFCU Trainings
    • NAAG Faculty
  • News & Resources
    • Attorney General Journal
    • Reports & Publications
    • Newsroom
    • NAAG Policy Letters
    • Podcasts
    • Online Learning
    • Research & Data
    • Member Directory
  • Attorneys General
    • What Attorneys General Do
    • Who is my Attorney General?
    • Attorneys General Office 101
    • Research & Data
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Careers in Attorney General Offices
    • Careers in Medicaid Fraud Control Units
  • About NAAG
    • NAAG Staff
    • NAAG Leadership
    • NAAG Member Services
    • NAAG Regions
    • NAAG FAQs
    • SAGE
    • NAMFCU
    • Newsroom
    • Careers at NAAG
  • Find my AG
  • About NAMFCU
    • About the Medicaid Fraud Control Units
    • Reporting Fraud and Abuse
    • MFCU Member Hub
    • Careers with a MFCU
  • Contact Us
National Association of Attorneys General
  • Find My AG
  • Consumer Complaints
  • Member Benefits
  • Contact Us
Log In
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Anticorruption
      • Antitrust
      • Bankruptcy
      • Charities
      • Civil Law
    • Issues
      • Consumer Protection
      • Criminal Law
      • Cyber and Technology
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Elder Justice
    • Issues
      • Ethics
      • Human Trafficking
      • Medicaid Fraud
      • Opioids
      • Powers & Duties
    • Issues
      • Public Health
      • The U.S. Supreme Court
      • Tobacco
      • Veterans & Military
  • Our Work
    • Training & Research
    • Centers
      • Center for Consumer Protection
      • Center for Supreme Court Advocacy
      • Center for Tobacco & Public Health
    • Committees
    • Initiatives
      • Presidential Initiative
      • Strategic Partnerships
      • International Fellows
      • COVID-19
    • Bankruptcy
    • Policy & Advocacy
  • Events & Training
    • Event Calendar
    • Attorney General Symposium
    • Presidential Summit
    • Capital Forum
    • Region Meetings
    • CLE Credit
    • NAAG Trainings
    • Online Learning
    • NAMFCU Trainings
    • NAAG Faculty
  • News & Resources
    • Attorney General Journal
    • Reports & Publications
    • Newsroom
    • NAAG Policy Letters
    • Podcasts
    • Online Learning
    • Research & Data
    • Member Directory
  • Attorneys General
    • What Attorneys General Do
    • Who is my Attorney General?
    • Attorneys General Office 101
    • Research & Data
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Careers in Attorney General Offices
    • Careers in Medicaid Fraud Control Units
  • About NAAG
    • NAAG Staff
    • NAAG Leadership
    • NAAG Member Services
    • NAAG Regions
    • NAAG FAQs
    • SAGE
    • NAMFCU
    • Newsroom
    • Careers at NAAG
  • Find my AG
  • About NAMFCU
    • About the Medicaid Fraud Control Units
    • Reporting Fraud and Abuse
    • MFCU Member Hub
    • Careers with a MFCU
  • Contact Us

Legal and Compliance Support for the $42.45B Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Grant Program

Home / Technology / Legal and Compliance Support for the $42.45B Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Grant Program
June 25, 2024 Technology
Share this

  • Stephanie Weiner
    Chief Counsel
    National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
  • Judson (Jud) Cary
    Assistant Attorney General
    Broadband, Technology Law Unit, Colorado Attorney General’s Office

The Internet is essential for access to economic opportunity, education, health care, justice, and so much more. Unfortunately, there are millions of people around the country who still don’t have the access, digital skills, or devices needed to use it.

In 2021, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $65 billion in funding to connect everyone in America to affordable, reliable, high-speed Internet service.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is charged with administering the largest of these new programs—the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grant program. The BEAD program provides $42.45 billion to expand high-speed Internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. NTIA is implementing the BEAD program, but the states and territories will play the central role. They have considerable flexibility to determine the best way to connect every home and small business within their borders.

Across the country, states and territories are already actively engaged in this effort. In 2022, each of them received planning funds to, among other things, create or strengthen a broadband office to do this work. In June 2023, NTIA determined each state and territory’s allocation of the remaining BEAD funding. And as of December 2023, each state and territory submitted to NTIA their Initial Proposal for how they plan to use those funds to meet BEAD program requirements. These Initial Proposals detail how states will identify unserved and underserved locations and community anchor institutions, how they will conduct subgrantee processes to fund broadband infrastructure deployments, and, where funds remain, how they will advance other non-deployment goals like workforce development and digital equity programs.  Progress by each state and territory on their BEAD initial proposals is monitored by the NTIA here.

Connecting the country to high-speed Internet is an all-hands on deck moment. This includes Attorney General Offices and other legal support functions for broadband offices across the country. Collaboration will be essential to the program’s success, including along at least two key lines.

First, we can work together to ensure that states and territories design strong and legally sustainable BEAD programs. This starts with the implementation of their broadband map challenge processes – which determine the unserved and underserved locations and Community Anchor Institutions, like schools and libraries, that are eligible for BEAD funding. These processes must be transparent, evidence-based, and consistent to ensure funds go where they are most needed. Next is the subgrantee selection process, which must be open, competitive, and fair to maximize participation where possible and ensure all potential providers have an equal opportunity to be awarded funds to deploy.  Advising state and territory broadband offices on how to build and run competitive and fair processes is critical to the BEAD programs success.

Colorado has been a leader in broadband grant programs since 2015, starting with its High-Cost Support Mechanism (HCSM) broadband grant program administered by the Colorado Broadband Office (CBO).

With support from the Assistant Attorney General – Broadband, the CBO regularly updates and publishes a detailed map indicating all Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs), including the status of “served,” “unserved,” or “underserved.”  Internet Service Providers (ISPs), municipalities, and tribes are then given the opportunity to “challenge” the status of each location to make corrections, and provide supporting documentation. This challenge process ensures BEAD grant funds are only expended on unserved and underserved locations.  The challenge evidence is reviewed in a fair, reasonable, and consistent manner to give the challengers and the public confidence in the process.

Similarly, the actual grantee selection process must set forth clear, objective, scoring criteria for potential grantees.  Much of the BEAD application scoring criteria is set forth in the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), but states are given some flexibility to address unique criteria the state deems important. The Colorado BEAD scoring criteria includes a low-income broadband tier offering, and sets forth the subscriber qualifications for such broadband tier.  Overall, legal guidance is provided to the CBO at every step in order to ensure a fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory grant evaluation process.

Second, NTIA and AG offices can work together to ensure BEAD program integrity and protect taxpayer funds. Waste, fraud, and abuse are always a risk—and that is especially true here, given the size and scope of this program. States and territories should incorporate subgrantee accountability requirements and safeguards, such as certification and reporting requirements, robust monitoring practices, and claw-back provisions requiring return of unearned or improperly-obtained funds. Beyond that, the NTIA, the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, and AG offices need to establish open lines of communication now so that—when necessary—enforcement against bad actors is coordinated, swift, and effective across state and federal authorities.

Colorado has a multilayer approach to tackling waste, fraud and abuse.

  • Pre-application qualification of applicants. Applicants must have the financial, managerial, and operational wherewithal to complete the proposed broadband project. We also check state, federal, and FCC databases for any prior violations, defaults, and good standing.
  • Grant Agreements. A good grant agreement is essential to be able to enforce performance under the agreement. Strict state rights to terminate, claw back of grants funds, and performance bonds are essential, yet flexibility to extend performance periods and accommodate unforeseen circumstances are also important.  Colorado’s Capital Projects Funds Grant Agreement template is located here.
  • Fraud Reporting. All CBO grant programs include a fraud reporting link to enable the public, grantees, or government employees to easily report fraud. If fraud is reported, the AG office will work with the CBO, the Consumer Fraud division, or other state or federal agencies to investigate the claim.
  • Monitoring, Reporting, and Compliance. Colorado provides required training and short videos on each key element of federal compliance.  For monitoring, Colorado employs an outside contractor to perform on-site inspections, audits, and reporting.
  • Enforcement. Of course, the Colorado AG Office stands ready to enforce any grant agreement, or clawback grant awards, should such action be necessary.

NTIA is eager to collaborate with NAAG and with Attorney General Offices to ensure the BEAD program is successful and sustainable. Each state and territory has a state point of contact and an NTIA federal program officer (FPO) dedicated to working on this program. Contact information for each state can be found here.  A good working relationship between the NTIA FPO and the AG or Broadband Office legal support person is essential to the success of the program.

NTIA has developed other resources and technical assistance for BEAD program design, which can be found here. Importantly, NTIA is putting in place an innovative risk/monitoring framework that states and territories can leverage to ensure grantees are complying with program requirements, deploying networks on time, and delivering service to meet their commitments. We will talk about this—and more—in a webinar on July 24. Please join us and feel free to reach out in the meantime if you have questions.

Related Posts

Related Posts

Shows no photo available image placeholder

Ethical Duty of Competence in Technology | What Lawyers Need to Know

2024 Information Technology Seminar

Exploring the Federal and State AI Governance Landscape

Connect with NAAG and the Attorney General Community

Create a NAAG account to subscribe to our newsletters or mailing lists.

Create Account
Subscribe
Marble columns and the top of a federal building

scroll to filters

White Logo for the National Association of Attorneys General

1850 M Street NW
12th floor
Washington, DC 20036

TEL 202-326-6000
EMAIL 

Youtube
  • Issues
    • Issues
      • Anticorruption
      • Antitrust
      • Bankruptcy
      • Charities
      • Civil Law
    • Issues
      • Consumer Protection
      • Criminal Law
      • Cyber and Technology
      • Disaster Preparedness & Response
      • Elder Justice
    • Issues
      • Ethics
      • Human Trafficking
      • Medicaid Fraud
      • Opioids
      • Powers & Duties
    • Issues
      • Public Health
      • The U.S. Supreme Court
      • Tobacco
      • Veterans & Military
  • Our Work
    • Training & Research
    • Centers
      • Center for Consumer Protection
      • Center for Supreme Court Advocacy
      • Center for Tobacco & Public Health
    • Committees
    • Initiatives
      • Presidential Initiative
      • Strategic Partnerships
      • International Fellows
      • COVID-19
    • Bankruptcy
    • Policy & Advocacy
  • Events & Training
    • Event Calendar
    • Attorney General Symposium
    • Presidential Summit
    • Capital Forum
    • Region Meetings
    • CLE Credit
    • NAAG Trainings
    • Online Learning
    • NAMFCU Trainings
    • NAAG Faculty
  • News & Resources
    • Attorney General Journal
    • Reports & Publications
    • Newsroom
    • NAAG Policy Letters
    • Podcasts
    • Online Learning
    • Research & Data
    • Member Directory
  • Attorneys General
    • What Attorneys General Do
    • Who is my Attorney General?
    • Attorneys General Office 101
    • Research & Data
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Careers in Attorney General Offices
    • Careers in Medicaid Fraud Control Units
  • About NAAG
    • NAAG Staff
    • NAAG Leadership
    • NAAG Member Services
    • NAAG Regions
    • NAAG FAQs
    • SAGE
    • NAMFCU
    • Newsroom
    • Careers at NAAG
  • Find my AG
  • About NAMFCU
    • About the Medicaid Fraud Control Units
    • Reporting Fraud and Abuse
    • MFCU Member Hub
    • Careers with a MFCU
  • Contact Us
  • Find My AG
  • Consumer Complaints
  • Member Benefits
  • Contact Us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy & Cookies Notice
  • Sitemap
  • Member Login

About the National Association of Attorneys General

As the nonpartisan national forum for America's state and territory attorneys general and their staff, NAAG provides collaboration, insight, and expertise to empower and champion America's attorneys general.
Learn More

© 2025 Copyright National Association of Attorneys General

Website by Yoko Co

Internal Feedback / Report an Error

Request an Update / Report an Error

The change you are requesting will be linked to this page. The URL for the page will be included in a hidden field when the form is submitted.
Please enter your change or describe your request. Be sure to reference where the error appears on the page and what needs to be done specifically.
Upload any files that need to be linked to this page. PDF only. Submit another request if you have more than five files to upload.
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: pdf, docx, xls, Max. file size: 50 MB, Max. files: 5.

    Who is requesting this change?(Required)

    Scroll To Top
    To provide you more clarity about how we collect, store and use personal information, and your rights to control that information, we have updated our privacy policy, which also explains how we use cookies. You consent to our cookies if you continue to use our website.I Agree