The BEAD program includes $42 billion for high-speed Internet access. This federal grant program, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act goal is to provide universal internet by funding partnerships between states or territories, communities, and stakeholders to build infrastructure where needed to and increase adoption of high-speed internet. BEAD prioritizes unserved locations that have no internet access or that only have access under 25/3 Mbps and underserved locations only have access under 100/20 Mbps.
The National Telecommunication Information and Administration allocated $451 million dollars in Kansas to address the digital divide. The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment 5–Year Action Plan along with Volume 1 and Volume 2 have identified 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.
KOBD has created many resources to assist those interested in this work. Please see the BEAD Applicant Resources section below for more information along with the FAQ download for a collection of questions and responses to the KOBD BEAD inbox at [email protected].
KOBD will open the applications for the BEAD subgrantee selection process October 21 and close the portal on December 5. Applicants must complete registration prior to beginning the application process. To support applicants there will be an informational webinar October 17 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Registration is available here.
Join KOBD and team as we open our virtual offices for questions to assist with the BEAD technical application. This will be an open opportunity to bring your questions and engage with the office. Register for the Office Hours here. Dates are listed below:
Registrants are encouraged to use this guide to pre-register via the portal.
These forms must be used by registrants for required files that will be uploaded as part of the registration. Please refer to the Guide for instructions on filling out and renaming these files.
Local and Tribal Coordination
Approved V2 indicates that evidence must consist of meeting minutes, attendee lists and discussion items like those contained in the NTIA Local Coordination Tracker. Below is a link to the NTIA website that houses the Local Coordination Tracking Tool.
9/26/2024
Please find the final project funding area files for eligible Kansas BSLs below.
Location status: 0=unserved/eligible, 1=underserved/eligible, 2=served/funded/ineligible.
*Please note files with an *asterisk* will not open in Excel completely. Will require other software.
KOBD will provide webinars and technical assistance opportunities to pre-register for BEAD. The portal is available for Registration. Registration is required prior to beginning a Technical Project Application. The Technical Application Portal will open October 21 and close December 7.
KOBD will host a Technical Project Application Webinar on October 17 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. BEAD Office hours will be held from 2:00p.m. to 3 p.m. on the folling days: October 24, November 7 and November 21. Registration links are below.
PFAs, Registration & Application Questions
Email: [email protected]
Monitored: Weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CDT unless extended hours are posted by exception
Salesforce Support Request
Email: [email protected]
Monitored: Weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. CDT
Emails received outside this timeframe will be responded to on the next business day
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.
To report suspected fraud, waste or abuse contact the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations.
For more information, please visit the Office of Inspector General with the Department of Commerce here.
KOBD has created many resources to assist those interested in this work. Please review the section below for a collection of questions and responses to the KOBD BEAD inbox.
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:
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:
Eligible Challenging Entities include:
Location Info:
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 Process Overview | Volume 1 -Full Document |
| Acceptable Evidence | NTIA Document |
| Data Licenses | NTIA Webpage on CostQuest Licensing |
| Challenge Portal Guidelines | KOBD Challenge Portal Guideline Document |
| Challenge Portal – Website | Challenge Portal – Website |
Below you will find links to webinars KOBD hosted along with information on upcoming webinars.
KOBD encouraged residents, community organizations, businesses, and local authorities, to participate in the public comment period for Volume 2 of the Initial Proposal. The document adheres to NTIA guidelines and includes a description of each requirement along with attachments, available for public inspection and comments.
Volume 2 outlines defined objectives for broadband infrastructure projects, transparent subgrantee selection processes and the active participation of eligible entities, all aimed at providing affordable broadband service options to residents.
Additional components of Volume 2 include:
You can learn more from this Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Volume 2 Attachments
Volume 2: The public comment period was open for thirty (30) days and closed on November 12, 2023.
| Comment Number | Name | Organization Represented (as applicable) | Documented Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Sperry | Link to PDF | |
| 2 | Jill Kuehny | KanOkla | Link to PDF |
| 3 | Jill Juehny | Link to PDF | |
| 4 | Friday Otuya | Link to PDF | |
| 5 | Friday Otuya | Nex-Tech | Link to PDF |
| 6 | Randy Hoffman | Wheat State Technologies | Link to PDF |
| 7 | Brian Threadgold | Link to PDF | |
| 8 | Justin Stegeman | Link to PDF | |
| 9 | Mike Regan | Telecommunications Industry Assocation | Link to PDF |
| 10 | Erin Waitz | UScellular | Link to PDF |
| 11 | B Lynn Follansbee | USTelecom – The Broadband Assocation | Link to PDF |
| 12 | Pamela Sherwood | Connect Holding II LLC d/b/a/Brightspeed | Link to PDF |
| 13 | Gabriel Moran | Tarana Wireless, Inc | Link to PDF |
| 14 | Stephen Duerst | Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association | Link to PDF |
| 15 | Carlee Parker | IdeaTek | Link to PDF |
| 16 | Randall Sandone | Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute – University of Illinois | Link to PDF |
| 17 | Benjamin Aron | CTIA – The Wireless Association | Link to PDF |
| 18 | Jenny Miller | EducationSuperhighway | Link to PDF |
| 19 | Leslie Scott | KC Digital Drive | Link to PDF & Link to Supporting Document |
| 20 | Lori Adams | Nokia | Link to PDF |
| 21 | Doug Adams | Think | Link to PDF |
| 22 | Jim Jamison | AT&T | Link to PDF and Link to Additional Document |
| 23 | Andrew Mincheff | INCOMPAS | Link to PDF |
The document adheres to NTIA guidelines and includes a description of each requirement along with attachments, available for public inspection and comments.
KOBD used 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 can be found below addresses other NTIA requirements such as the subgrantee selection process. You can learn more from this Notice of Funding Opportunity.
For easy reference these are the sections of Volume 1 that have been revised:
You can view the full document by clicking the button below.
To learn more about the challenge process and requirements please see document from National Telecommunications Information and Administration (NTIA)
Volume 1: The public comment period was open for thirty (30) days and was extended to 5:00 p.m. (CT) September 5, 2023.
| Comment Number | Name | Organization Represented (as applicable) | Documented Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura Musil | Blue Rapids Community Action Team | Link to PDF |
| 2 | Laura Musil | Blue Rapids Community Action Team | Link to PDF |
| 3 | David Miller | NA | Link to PDF |
| 4 | Troy Smith | NA | Link to PDF |
| 5 | Steve McClintock | NA | Link to PDF |
| 6 | Nasha Lee | NA | Link to PDF |
| 7 | Courtney Howell | NA | Link to PDF |
| 8 | Darrin Hiebert | NA | Link to PDF |
| 9 | Carol Phelps | NA | Link to PDF |
| 10 | Steve Kibbee | NA | Link to PDF |
| 11 | Cindy Price | NA | Link to PDF |
| 12 | Cole Herder | City of Humboldt | Link to PDF |
| 13 | Cole Herder | City of Humboldt | Link to PDF |
| 14 | Deb Minkler | Rawlins County Economic Development | Link to PDF |
| 15 | Douglas Lawson | NA | Link to PDF |
| 16 | Katie Eisenhour | Scott County Development Committee – on behalf of Scott City and Scott County in their entirety | Link to PDF |
| 17 | Alisha Herrmann | Edwards County Medical Center | Link to PDF |
| 18 | Rick Peterson | Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE) | Link to PDF |
| 19 | Janet McRae | NA | Link to PDF |
| 20 | Jenny Miller | EducationSuperHighway | Link to PDF |
| 21 | Chris Breeden | NA | Link to PDF |
| 22 | Becki Regier | Home Communications, Inc. | Link to PDF |
| 23 | Chris Breeden | Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association (KCTA) | Link to PDF |
| 24 | Stephen Duerst | NA | Link to PDF |
| 25 | Pamela Sherwood | Connect Holding II LLC d/b/a Brightspeed | Link to PDF |
| 26 | Anthony Tate | Compudopt | Link to PDF |
| 27 | Marlene Nagel | Mid-America Regional Council | Link to PDF |
| 28 | Nathan Madden | Health Forward Foundation | Link to PDF |
| 29 | John Reardon | NA | Link to PDF |
| 30 | David Norlin | NA | Link to PDF |
| 31 | Stephen Duerst | Kansas Cable Telecommunications Association (KCTA) | Link to PDF |
| 32 | Jim Jamison | AT&T | Link to PDF |
“My administration is committed to ensuring every Kansan, regardless of their zip code, has access to fast and
Governor Laura Kelly
reliable internet connectivity, bringing additional economic growth, educational opportunities, and telehealth
services. This funding advances our progress toward being a top 10 state for broadband access by 2030.”
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