Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD)

The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment 5–Year Action Plan along with Volume 1 and Volume 2 will identify served, unserved, and underserved locations across the state. The 5-Year Action Plan addresses the “what” KOBD will be doing and Volume 1 and Volume 2 address the “how” it will happen and how KOBD will address the digital divide.

The public comment period was open for thirty (30) days and was extended to 5:00 p.m. (CT) September 5, 2023.

KOBD will use your input to update the BEAD-IP, Volume 1, which focuses on existing funding, unserved and underserved locations, community anchor institutions (CAI), and a challenge process that will follow the approval of this plan. A second volume of the BEAD-IP will be released at a later date to address other NTIA requirements such as the subgrantee selection process. You can learn more from this Notice of Funding Opportunity.

To learn more about the challenge process and requirements please see document from Nation Telecommunications Information and Administration (NTIA)

• Existing Broadband Efforts Guidance: Find on pages 11-12 of the document referenced above
• Unserved and Underserved Kansans Guidance: Find on page 13 of the document referenced above
• Community Anchor Institution (CAI) Guidance: Find on pages 14 -17 of the document referenced above
• BEAD Model Challenge Process Guidance: Find on pages 18 -26 of the document referenced above

1. What does this BSL data provided include? These .csv files containing the BSL locations linked for public comment were provided specifically from the NTIA. This data does not reflect all areas with enforceable commitments. This work will be done via a process called deduplication. KOBD is awaiting the tool from NTIA to complete this.
   
   Deduplication: Identify broadband serviceable locations that are subject to enforceable commitments and remove those locations from having the status of “eligible.”