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.

Pre-Registration Technical Assistance

KOBD will provide webinars and technical assistance opportunities to pre-register for BEAD. We anticipate the portal for preregistration to open May 13th and the first 30-day application window to tentatively open July 8th.

Webinar Links

Below you will find links to webinars KOBD has hosted along with information on upcoming webinars.

Challenge Process Information

Based on Initial Proposal Volume 1 Transparency Plan (page 15), KOBD will post publicly all submitted challenges and rebuttals publicly before final challenge determinations are made, with the following information:

1. The provider, nonprofit, or unit of local government that submitted the challenge,
2. The census block group containing the challenged BSL,
3. The provider being challenged,
4. The type of challenge (e.g., availability or speed), and
5. A summary of the challenge, including whether a provider submitted a rebuttal.

KOBD will not publicly post any personally identifiable information (PII) or proprietary information, including subscriber names, street addresses or customer IP addresses. To ensure all PII is protected, KOBD will remove any PII from all challenges and rebuttals prior to posting. Also, guidance will be provided to all challengers on which information may be posted publicly. The following list encompasses all Challenges submitted, but not all submitted Challenges listed were approved to go to Rebuttal. Please find all submitted challenges available for download here.

KOBD received approval from the NTIA on our Initial Proposal Volume 1 and continues to move through the challenge process.

The official Challenge Process ran from NOON CT on Friday, December 15 until Sunday, January 14 at 5:00 p.m. CT.

The Four Phases of the Challenge Process:

• Publish List of Eligible locations
• Accept Challenges
• Solicit Rebuttals
• Final Determination

Eligible Challenging Entities include:

• Tribal or Local Governments
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Internet Service Providers

Location Info:

• This list is based on Version 2 of the National Broadband Availability map with iterative updates as of November 7th. Version 3 will be used in the final deduplication. 
• KOBD performed: Technology/DSL Modifications, Speed Test Modifications, and Deduplication using the NTIA Toolkit as specified in BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 1.

Post Deduplication Process: KOBD will use the NTIA Toolkit and deduplicate our current state grant programs, LINC, BAG 3.0, and the federal Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (EACAM), that may be awarded and/or contracted during the Challenge Process. Enforceable Commitment Challenges for these program locations are not necessary.

License Reminder: Licenses are required when using the pre-populated templates of locational information from the challenge portal and will support submitting a challenge on many locations at once.

Eligible challenging entities (tribal/local government, nonprofits and internet service providers) can apply for licenses from CostQuest, at no cost. Learn more from this NTIA webpage here.

The official challenge process was outlined in Volume 1 of the Initial Proposal and required the process be transparent, evidence based and expedient.

Challenge Resources

1. Where can I find a file for school districts for use in mapping software? The following link will direct you to the ‘Kansas Geoportal.’ The School Districts can be downloaded in a variety of formats (CSV, KML, Shapefile, or GeoJSON). Kansas School District Link
2. 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.”
3. What is the update to the RDOF awards for challenge purposes? Any area that received federal or state monies and will meet the 100/20 speeds for qualified broadband service under BEAD are not eligible for BEAD money. Thus, already awarded areas will be removed in the BEAD deduplication process. The deduplication process is where broadband serviceable locations are identified and removed, thereby making them ineligible for funding under BEAD.
4. Will there be a chance for the Kansas Office of Broadband Development to advocate federally? Yes. There will continue to be periodic opportunities for eligible entities such as state governments to provide public comment to the FCC and NTIA. There are also informal opportunities for feedback to be provided to relevant federal agencies.
5. Can we assume, then, that all BSLs with “2” in the “Final_Eligibility” field are considered already served, and barring any future changes to this status, these BSLs will be categorically excluded from all applications in the upcoming BEAD program? Up to 20% of the BSLs in a Project Area can be served.  However, the cost of the Project Area would be limited only to those BSLs that are unserved (0) or underserved (1) in the Final_Eligibility field.  KOBD would not explicitly fund served (2) locations.

Volume 1: The public comment period was open for thirty (30) days and was extended to 5:00 p.m. (CT) September 5, 2023.

Volume 2: The public comment period was open for thirty (30) days and closed on November 12, 2023.

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

High-Cost Areas

NTIA defined “high cost” using a cost model that incorporates an area’s remoteness, population density, topography, and poverty levels, and measures costs over the life of the network. NTIA defined “area” to mean census block groups. View NTIA Website here.

Reporting Information

To report suspected fraud, waste or abuse contact the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations.

• Review the Detecting and Defeating Fraud presentation by the Department of Commerce
• OIG Hotline: (800) 424-5197
• Online Complaint Form
• Whistleblower Retaliation Info Poster
• How to Report Suspected or Known Fraud/Abuse Under KOBD Programs

For more information, please visit the Office of Inspector General with the Department of Commerce here.

BEAD Resources from Partners

• Center on Rural Innovation – BEAD Funding Guide