Starting November 1, broadband industry leaders, especially providers, are breathing a collective sigh of relief as NTIA officials have provided a <a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/2023/11/ntia-will-allow-alternatives-to-letter-of-credit-for-bead-funding-in-new-guidance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">programmatic waiver</a> providing states and territories with more options to ensure the financial reliability of BEAD grants.BEAD grant recipients, under previous rules, were required to produce a <a href="http://Letter of Credit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Letter of Credit</a> for a 25% of the total award amount from an FDIC-insured bank with a Weiss rating of B- or better, unless specified by BEAD rules. This required putting substantial sums of cash as collateral which often prevented smaller and minority-owned providers from participating.NTIA’s waiver provides numerous changes to the Letter of Credit requirements that aim to enhance access to funding, including allowing states to utilize a <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/performance-bonds-for-bead-grants" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">performance bond</a> for the full award amount.Performance bonds are a new chapter for the broadband sector with their full adoption pending the results of a national working group led by the <a href="https://www.nasbp.org/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Association of Surety Bond Producers,</a> or NASPB, and <a href="https://surety.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Surety and Fidelity Association of America</a>, or SFAA.The working group is expected to release its results in either the first or second quarter of 2024.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/bbm-public-bucket/Lo_C_Performance_Bond_4d7bb4ad13/Lo_C_Performance_Bond_4d7bb4ad13.svg" alt="Performance Bonds"></div><h2>What are performance bonds?</h2>Performance bonds are surety bonds issued by an insurance company or bank that guarantees successful completion of a project. Performance bonds are most commonly used in the construction industry, legal sectors in the form of appeal bonds and some licensed occupations.Performance bonds allow the principal, such as an <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/isp-or-provider" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">internet service provider</a>, &nbsp;to be protected for the full cost of the project by the surety, or financial institution, that is providing the performance bond. The obligee, or entity requesting the work such as a municipality or state broadband office, in return, can file a claim against the bond to recover losses from uncompleted work.<h2>What’s the application process for a performance bond?</h2>Providers should first be sure to build relationships with surety providers prior to the application period. Read: This is not the time to procrastinate.Your first step should be to ask your company’s insurance provider to connect you with a surety agent that is familiar with the broadband sector. Having an agent with sector knowledge allows for productive conversations, accurate assessment of the application and its risks and, ultimately, the most beneficial terms for everyone involved.Be sure to take advantage of online resources such as <a href="https://broadband.money/start-broadband-grant-application" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.money</a> and <a href="https://www.beadbonding.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BEADbonding.com</a> which contain valuable resources on establishing BEAD-compliant contracts and performance bonds.Applicants will be expected during the submission process to provide business credit information and financial documents for an understanding of the applicant’s financial position. Sureties will also want information about the applicant’s progress on related projects, project schedule and work capacity.Some sureties might expect a pledge of collateral or cash funds depending on the size of the bond and the company’s track record with past projects.Surety agents will guide applicants through the entire underwriting process with bond costs ranging from 2%-6% of the total project cost or, in the case of BEAD, award amount.Approval timelines vary on a case-by-case basis. Smaller bonds, usually under $1 million, can be approved in a matter of hours, especially if the applicant has strong credit and is in a strong financial position. Larger bonds of up to $10 million can take up to two weeks.<h2>How are performance bonds being used in broadband?</h2>The national working group led by the NASPB and SFAA are working with the NTIA, states, ISPs, &nbsp;and other government entities to tailor guidelines for how performance bonds can be utilized with the BEAD program.Among the biggest challenges are reaching a middle ground between what language is acceptable to the NTIA for bonding purposes but also ensuring that bonds are able to still provide value to both applicants and grantors.<h2>What comes next?</h2>Grantors must become aware of their responsibilities surrounding performance bonds, such as awareness of project progress and ensuring that projects are completed in a timely manner. Failure to fill these responsibilities could potentially result in a bond being unable to be called upon.Applicants must become familiar with performance bonds and take preliminary steps to take advantage of them as soon as they are available. This includes being aware of their benefits, such as greater access to capital and diversity among applicants, and also a stronger assurance that the work will be done.Applicants should be sure to tap into numerous resources available from the broadband community, such as <a href="https://broadband.money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.money</a> and <a href="http://broadband.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.io</a>.

A crash course on performance bonds for America’s leading broadband pros

Here’s what you need to know about performance bonds today.

Everything broadband pros need to know about performance bonds

Everything you need to know today about performance bonds

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Performance bonds 101 for Broadband Pros

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What Every Broadband Pro Should Know about Performance Bonds

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The surprise wasn’t what President Biden said about broadband in the East Room of the White House – it was that he said it in the East Room of the White House.As far as federal programs go, $42.5 billion isn’t nothing. But it isn’t a lot of money, either. I think the takeaway of yesterday’s announcement is that Biden (and Vice President Kamala Harris) want to be associated with improving Americans’ broadband.&nbsp;<h2>Parallels with rural electrification of three generations ago</h2>I was struck by the repeated mentions of the connection between the bipartisan infrastructure law and the 1936 Rural Electrification Act passed during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.The 1936 law intended to bring electricity to nearly every home and farm in America, the administration noted.&nbsp;“High-speed internet is the new electricity,” the White House noted in the first page of its briefing guide.&nbsp;“Today, roughly 8.5 million locations across America aren’t connected to the internet. The Biden-Harris Administration is going to close that gap. As a result of once-in-a-generation funding in the President’s Investing in America agenda… to bring affordable, reliable, high-speed internet to everyone in America.”&nbsp;<h2>States learn that they win some and lose some</h2><a href="https://ready.net/state-broadband-office-resources/list-ntia-bead-broadband-grant-allocations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">States are still digesting their numbers released yesterday.</a>Some states, like Virginia, were pleased with their numbers – $1.48 billion. Other states, like Kansas, were disappointed – $451 million. The next step will be to compare the numbers released yesterday with the various industry and analyst projections that have been made.&nbsp;Critically important will be understanding why&nbsp;each state received their particular award – and the tools that state broadband offices need to manage the state challenge processes.&nbsp;<h2>Linkages to other aspects of the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda</h2>Another thing I heard while I listened to Biden’s statements yesterday was how the president is doubling down on “Buy America” rules.In its briefing prior to the announcement, the administration highlighted how “President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving a manufacturing boom – in part because of provisions in the historic legislation passed by President Biden that requires made-in-America materials.”For example, they highlighted a recent announcement in North Carolina by fiber optic cable manufacturers Corning and CommScope announced $500 million and $47 million expansions of facilities earlier in the year.There are some thorny issues to address here, too. But as the broadband industry welcomes the implementation of the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program, in needs to be conscious of sorting through these challenges, too.

Parallels with rural electrification, states digest their awards, and learning to live with Buy America rules.

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Some early takeaways on the Biden administration’s BEAD allocation announcement

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No matter where you go grocery shopping in the United States nowadays, whether it’s the biggest of chain supermarkets to the smallest of mom n’ pop shops, you can count on one thing: nearly all the packaged food that you can buy will have clearly displayed, black and white nutrition labels printed on it listing the calories, total fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, and other ingredients.&nbsp;These standardized nutrition labels were actually created relatively recently as a&nbsp;<a href="https://he.utexas.edu/ntr-news-list/food-labels-history">result of the 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act</a>, designed to help consumers make fully informed shopping decisions, and to be able to accurately compare different food products to one another. Nearly all producers of packaged food in the U.S. must comply with these requirements. Now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) wants to apply a similar kind of labeling to a very different product class: Broadband internet plans.&nbsp;The FCC has been working over the last six years on developing a plan for what precise information the new “Broadband Nutrition Labels” would include. There was a vigorous commentary between advocacy groups on how the agency could best help consumers, and how, when, and where providers would be required to display such labels.&nbsp;The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed by Congress in 2021 further spurred the process, as it directed the FCC to require standardized broadband plan labels from providers. On November 14, 2022, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-requires-broadband-providers-display-labels-help-consumers">FCC voted to enact them through a new order</a>. There will be some additional modifications pending further commentary, but the basic framework has been established.&nbsp;But high-speed internet plans are very different than food. What exactly is required in the FCC’s new Broadband Nutrition Labels? Which providers must comply? What information must providers display, when, where, and what are the possible penalties for failing to comply? Read on to learn more.In the meantime, Ready.net is working towards helping providers follow the FCC's broadband nutrition facts label requirement. Providers will be able to incorporate the relevant subscriber plan information in a broadband nutrition facts label in our relevant products in the near future.&nbsp;Where did the FCC post the new Broadband Nutrition Label requirements?The full 87-page-long order document detailing all of the new standardized requirements, as well as various rationale and refutations toward organizations challenging the FCC during the public hearings and comment period held over the course of 2022, can be found on various pages on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-requires-broadband-providers-display-labels-help-consumers">the FCC website</a>.&nbsp;The full order is&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-22-86A1.pdf">here</a>.The hearings are available&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandlabels">here</a>.&nbsp;Who must comply with the Broadband Nutrition Label order?All providers offering fixed and mobile broadband plans for individual consumers and households — that is, any company offering broadband service delivered to a single location, like cable internet installed at your home or apartment from Spectrum or Optimum or smaller local providers, and mobile device plans for phones and tablets, like the 5G service on your smartphone from carrier companies such as AT&amp;T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cricket Wireless, etc.&nbsp;The notable exception to these requirements is for&nbsp;enterprise service plans: broadband access, fixed or mobile, that is only available to enterprise customers, such as businesses, nonprofits, schools, healthcare facilities, and other organizations. The FCC, for now, says that enterprise internet plans&nbsp;do not&nbsp;have to follow the Broadband Nutrition Labels.&nbsp;So, to review: for example, Verizon FiOS internet plans offered for households&nbsp;must comply with the new Broadband Nutrition Labels, while Verizon FiOS enterprise internet for organizations would&nbsp;not need to comply with them.&nbsp;Importantly,&nbsp;the order applies only to plans currently being offered to new customers and any new plans that may be offered by providers going forward. Older plans that have been discontinued, or current plans that are&nbsp;no longer available to purchase by new customers, do not need to have Broadband Nutrition Labels created for them.&nbsp;&nbsp;Finally, all Broadband Nutrition Labels must be retained by providers for a minimum of two years, according to the FCC.When do providers have to begin posting the Broadband Nutrition Labels?The FCC voted to adopt the new requirements in November 2022 and published a notice of its rulemaking in the <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/12/16/2022-26853/empowering-broadband-consumers-through-transparency">Federal Register on December 16, 2022</a>, with the rule going into effect on January 17, 2023. Nonetheless, the agency is still leaving the door open for replies to its own replies to previous comments until <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/12/16/2022-26853/empowering-broadband-consumers-through-transparency">next week Tuesday, February 14, 2023</a>.&nbsp;Large providers are required to publish their labels within six months. Smaller providers are required to publish their labels within one year ('smaller' providers are defined as those with 100,000 or fewer subscriber lines).&nbsp;Where must providers post their Broadband Nutrition Labels?&nbsp;&nbsp;According to the FCC, providers must display the nutrition labels for any and all available plans on “both ISP websites and any other channels through which their service is sold, including ISP-owned retail locations, third-party owned retail locations, and over the phone.”While the FCC leaves it up to the providers to choose the exact location on their website or physical media to display the Broadband Nutrition Labels, and how large or small the font size is, “providers should ensure that the labels are prominently displayed on any device on which the consumer accesses and views the labels, including mobile devices.”&nbsp;Notably, the FCC says that as soon as a customer provides their service address to any provider or their representatives, the provider should then display the label of any associated plans that are offered at that location.&nbsp;What information must the labels include?&nbsp;Perhaps the most critical piece of information for providers to consider is the actual content of the labels. The labels follow a fairly simple and similar looking format as the FDA food nutrition labels described above, but with different categories, including (in the following order):<ul><li>The provider company’s name at the top</li><li>The name of the particular plan being offered (whether it is a speed name or a brand name like TurboNet, for example)</li><li>Whether it’s a fixed or mobile internet plan</li><li>The plan’s price — including whether it is an introductory rate, and if so, how long that price lasts and what the successive rate will be, and whether it requires a contract, and for what length of time</li><li>Additional charges, including one-time installation fees or equipment fees, early termination fees, and taxes applied</li><li>Discounts offered by bundling the plan with other services (such as TV or phone)</li><li>Whether or not it qualifies as part of the separate Affordable Connectivity Program</li><li>The typical download and upload speeds in megabits-per-second, as well as latency in milliseconds (how long it&nbsp;<a href="https://frontier.com/resources/what-is-network-latency">takes data to transfer</a>)&nbsp;</li><li>The limits on how much data the plan allows the customer to transfer/access every month, and any overage charges (in gigabytes and price-per-gigabytes, respectively)&nbsp;</li><li>Links to network management and privacy policies</li><li>Customer support phone number or website</li><li>A link to the fcc.gov/consumer site</li><li>The plan’s unique identification number</li></ul>What do the new Broadband Nutrition Labels look like?The FCC requires that providers all follow the same format when posting their labels, including the same fields, colors (black and white), and arrangement of information. This is to ensure consumers can accurately compare plans side-by-side. The FCC included the following example format — though note that the red text is simply to show where providers must input their own information in black. Importantly: the order states that the information must be “machine readable,” that is, scannable by a computer program using optical character recognition (OCR), presumably to allow for other apps and software programs to help consumers compare plans.&nbsp;<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/bbm-public-bucket/Broadband_Nutrition_Label_1_cead8c9e23/Broadband_Nutrition_Label_1_cead8c9e23.png"></figure>What are the penalties for providers that fail to comply with the Broadband Nutrition Label order?&nbsp;The FCC does not specify what fines, fees or penalties providers that do not comply with the Broadband Nutrition Label order will face, instead deferring to its existing authority and enforcement mechanisms.As the order states, “we find that our existing enforcement mechanisms should enable us to enforce our new label requirements, including the accuracy of the label’s content and the sufficiency of its format and display location. We thus will use the identical procedures to enforce the broadband label requirements adopted here.”But what are those “existing enforcement mechanisms” and how would they apply to providers that are accused of running afoul of the labels, either in completeness, accessibility, or accuracy?&nbsp;The FCC has its own Enforcement Bureau that conducts investigations and may issue subpoenas to organizations and individuals accused of violating its requirements. It also has an Investigations &amp; Hearings Division responsible for taking “enforcement actions” against violators, including “forfeiture orders,” essentially a fine, the value of which is “case specific.”In footnotes of the Broadband Nutrition Label order, the FCC notes that penalties for violators should be “sufficient to deter noncompliance,” yet not so minimal “as to constitute a cost of doing business for providers,” suggesting they could be high.&nbsp;How will the FCC evaluate internet service plans to ensure they are complying with the information listed on the labels?The FCC doesn’t state whether it will on its own run any speed or latency tests on providers to ensure they are complying with the information provided in their labels.&nbsp;However, the order states that the agency will accept and investigate individual complaints from consumers “as vigorously as we do other informal complaints.” Consumers can file complaints using the&nbsp;<a href="https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us.">FCC’s existing online forms here</a>.&nbsp;Other enforcement actionsThere’s a possibility that the labels make providers subject to enforcement actions from other government entities, however.&nbsp;For example, state attorneys general across the country have said that they’re investigating providers who have engaged in a number of practices, such as enforcing data caps.Also, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has launched an investigation into Optimum Altice for allegedly misrepresenting its internet services.“The overwhelming number of complaints relate to consumers who have not received advertised speeds for Optimum 300 megabits per second and Optimum 400 megabits per second, cable internet plans they paid for,” Tong&nbsp;<a href="https://ctmirror.org/2022/11/22/ct-optimum-altice-internet-service-investigation/">said</a>.

Providers need to inform new customers what they're receiving for their subscriptions. Here are the facts.

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What the FCC's New Broadband ‘Nutrition Labels’ Require

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Virginia’s Office of Broadband is housed in the Commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Dr. Tamarah Holmes, in addition to leading the Office of Broadband, is the program manager for the Virginia Appalachian Regional Commission. 

Virginia’s Office of Broadband is housed in the commonwealth’s Department of Housing and Community Development. Dr. Tamarah Holmes, in addition to leading the Office of Broadband, is the program manager for the Virginia Appalachian Regional Commission. 

How Dr. Tamarah Holmes plans on connecting the Commonwealth to broadband

Virginia’s broadband director aims to bring broadband to every Virginian

No Location Left Behind: Dr. Tamarah Holmes’ promise to Virginians

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Discover the compelling efforts led by Sally Doty and the Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM) team as they strive to bridge the digital divide in one of the most underserved states. With a focus on transparency and engagement, BEAM has conducted over 40 meetings, partnering with organizations like Ready to ensure a seamless challenge process for providers. Uncover the challenges faced by Mississippi, where almost 70 percent of 1,347,000 broadband service locations are either unserved or underserved. Join us in following the journey of BEAM as they tirelessly work towards making broadband a reality for all Mississippians, showcased through the lens of Leonard and Ben, the Broadband Bros.

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Making Broadband A Reality for Mississippians

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ConnectLA's bold mission: Bringing high-quality internet to every Louisiana home by 2029. Meet the visionary team rewriting the state's digital future and learn about their journey to bridge the digital divide!

Bayou Broadband: Transforming Louisiana's Digital Landscape with ConnectLA

ConnectLA's bold mission: Bringing high-quality internet to every Louisiana home by 2029. Meet the visionary team rewriting the state's digital future and learn about their journey to bridge the digital divide.

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ConnectLA Scales Broadband Efforts with Ready's Challenge Process Coordinator

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Bayou Broadband

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United Fiber, a broadband service that's part of the United Electric Cooperative in Savannah, Missouri, is leveraging Ready's software and data platform to both improve the efficiency of its operations, and to grow its footprint.

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How United Fiber Saved Hundred of Hours Per Year Using Ready BOSS

&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><div>
 NTIA officials released the Notice of Funding Opportunity, NOFO, for the second digital equity program in the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant program in late March.
 Authorized by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, the State Digital Equity Act includes three funding programs:
 <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/USE_THIS_ONE_836fe29444/USE_THIS_ONE_836fe29444.png?updated_at=2024-04-11T21:26:00.343Z" alt="NoFo Image" style="max-width: 370px; height: auto; float: right; margin-left: 24px;">
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 <li>$60 million for State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program</li>
 <li>$1.44 billion for State Digital Equity Capacity Program</li>
 <li>$1.25 billion for Competitive Grant Program</li>
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</div></div>&nbsp;<h4>What states must know&nbsp;</h4>The first funding program, the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, was announced in 2022. All 50 U.S. states, territories and tribal governments submitted their plans by July 12, 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/news/latest-news/first-time-all-states-will-have-plan-address-digital-equity">marking the first time that all states had a plan to address digital equity</a>.&nbsp;Louisiana and Virginia, both Ready customers, were among the first states to have its Digital Equity plans approved.&nbsp;This funding program provides funds to U.S. states, territories and tribal communities to implement their digital equity plans established previously under the State Digital Equity Planning Program. This program also establishes a competitive process to make funding from both programs available for use in digital equity and inclusion activities.&nbsp;Under this program, U.S. states, territories and tribal communities will have $840 million available to implement their digital equity plans.&nbsp;U.S. states and Puerto Rico must have their applications submitted to the NTIA by May 28, 2024. U.S. territories, besides Puerto Rico, must have their applications submitted by&nbsp;July 31, 2024.&nbsp; Tribal governments will be able to submit applications starting on&nbsp;September 25, 2024 and must have applications submitted by&nbsp;February 7, 2025.&nbsp;&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/In_blog_graphic_ef690bd986/In_blog_graphic_ef690bd986.jpg"></figure>&nbsp;<h4>What states can do to stay ahead&nbsp;</h4>Grantors, throughout the application process, must operate by the principles of a&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/data-driven-state-broadband-offices">data-driven state broadband office</a>.&nbsp;Digital equity asset maps in conjunction with&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/state-broadband-office-software">Ready’s Grantor platform</a> can be a powerful step to ensure broad participation in this process.&nbsp;Using the Ready platform, grantors can utilize geospatial tools to visualize areas of need and define project areas. Ready’s&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/products/performance-test-and-survey">Performance Test and Survey</a> tools will allow grantors to collect data from a wide range of communities to properly determine where resources should be disbursed. State broadband offices can also utilize&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/products/bead-grant-reporting-automation-software">Ready Automated Reporting and Compliance&nbsp;</a>to minimize their team’s value time being spent on regulatory and compliance needs.&nbsp;State broadband offices have been given a once in a lifetime opportunity to narrow the digital divide and uplift their communities. There will never be another chance like this, and state broadband leaders must have the best tools at their disposal to make data-informed decisions that allow them to make the most effective use of their funding allocations, and get their communities the broadband they need.&nbsp;

Everything that states must know to successfully execute a Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program 

Want to get ahead on Digital Equity Programs? Read this. 

Everything you need to know about Digital Equity Capacity Grants 

Everything that states must know to successfully execute a Digital Equity Program 

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Digital Equity 101 

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Digital Equity Grants 101

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If you’re a cooperative sitting on a&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/bead-hidden-truth-your-rural-electric-co-op-is-probably-sitting-on-a-matching-funds-goldmine">BEAD goldmine&nbsp;</a>who’s aware that&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/hidden-truth-you-don-t-need-to-become-an-isp-to-win-in-bead">becoming an ISP isn’t necessary to win in BEAD</a>, there may still be one thing keeping you on the fence: meeting reporting and compliance guidelines.&nbsp;And you wouldn’t be alone. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nrtc.coop/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/REC-Broadband-Benchmarking-Report-2022-Refresh.pdf">more than 70% of cooperatives reported that their greatest concern in BEAD was fulfilling reporting and compliance requirements.</a>&nbsp;<h2>Software is the solution</h2>Software can automate nearly all of your post-award reporting and compliance burden, and thus allow you to focus on connecting more families to the broadband service they need.&nbsp;Ready’s ARC platform is designed to help BEAD applicants save time by skipping the manual self-reporting process and mountains of paperwork with a single digital workflow. This, in turn, means that applicants are able to coordinate their deployments with marketing efforts while also supplying updates regularly.This allows for applicants to answer questions, such as “Where is the network at this moment?”,&nbsp;“Are broadband performance obligations met?”&nbsp;and “How is service at location X?”<img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/VPQLFVWcdSL54ZWd2-TCOQSYAbc0kDJmv56ns4-onWpgNHonO9pSDwmZypH_C1UtbkFLj9yFIMV2TraID91xu3SY7JCzhI4wDmT-4P8BjBeDazEPun9EeCmbcirkuYZws5wwbKCqR_664mDfLXF6bUU">Using ARC’s open Proof of Passings Standard (POPS), any Build America Buy America -compliant equipment can be connected to the platform to save time and provide other benefits. This includes geospatial attestations of service availability, quality, and affordability and automation and digitization of the passings reporting process.&nbsp;ARC’s capabilities also includes automated&nbsp;Proof of Marketing™️, a BEAD requirement that those awarded BEAD grants make demonstrable efforts to market plans to unserved and underserved locations, and&nbsp;Proof of Labor™️,&nbsp;which ensures compliance with Davis-Bacon among other labor and workforce requirements.&nbsp;Ready ARC also includes&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/broadband-audits">America’s Broadband Audit</a>, a public report card on America’s current broadband reality and Performance Test and Surveys.&nbsp;<img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/D08HWRtF2FTE9iJbRjULgQZHF02luQddpKJSJ-RGFryhVK23P6l4e90Zai6uo7p3vJ9zSnSc6VLeYvxyWXR_OqichavZe3m75DWMKEWO1EGMjlZII-u8JSN6yn6CuKuejmCFHuHR5IbAHTy6GDNEvmg">Lastly, BEAD applicants should utilize&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money./">Broadband.money</a>, a one-stop applicant platform that provides tools and resources for every stage of the BEAD journey.&nbsp;Time is of the essence and your communities are counting on you. And, remember, if you don’t apply, your competition will.

 RECs biggest concerns can be eliminated with Ready ARC

Want to win in BEAD? Use software to avoid the paperwork and parts you loathe 

Software can save you from BEAD hassles  

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Hidden Truth: Software can handle the parts of BEAD that you loathe 

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<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/truth2inblog_c3657617b0/truth2inblog_c3657617b0.png"></figure>As many cooperatives discover that they are sitting on a&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/bead-hidden-truth-your-rural-electric-co-op-is-probably-sitting-on-a-matching-funds-goldmine]">BEAD goldmines</a>, it raises an important question: Can cooperatives win in BEAD without becoming ISPs, or internet service providers?&nbsp;The answer is a resounding yes – and doing so can bring an additional revenue stream to cooperatives for their existing infrastructure.&nbsp;Cooperatives possess a powerful legacy as&nbsp;public resource stewards alongside decades of success delivering critical services to members. Many are uninterested in pivoting their operations and becoming an ISP, but&nbsp;don't want their members to lose in BEAD.&nbsp;Under BEAD and IIJA, or Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act guidance, these cooperatives can form partnerships between ISP operators and other stakeholders, such as other cooperatives and other infrastructure owners.&nbsp;Cooperatives applying alongside an ISP are not only competitive for BEAD, but can also create an additional revenue stream. Under the partnership agreement, a cooperative can use their existing infrastructure to charge the partner ISP a monthly fee. This fee can be assessed on a per passing or per subscriber can include maintenance costs for the right-of-way infrastructure.&nbsp;&nbsp;Finding a trustworthy partner&nbsp;Cooperatives should prioritize finding a trustworthy ISP partner that will allow for cooperatives to maintain the trust of its customers.&nbsp;The most trustworthy partners are cooperatives that have successfully begun operating as ISPs, such as&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/united-fibers-path-to-bringing-broadband-to-northwest-missouri-s-rural-communities">United Fiber</a>. These cooperatives possess an intimate understanding of structure and expectations of cooperatives, but also understand what is necessary to successfully deploy broadband.&nbsp;It’s important that both cooperatives are aligned on what is at stake in partnerships as they must last at least a decade, per BEAD guidelines.&nbsp;BEAD is a&nbsp;golden opportunity for cooperatives to bring broadband to their members – even if they don't want to be an ISP. It simply can’t afford to be missed.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Want to learn more?&nbsp;Be sure to check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.broadband.io/c/broadband-grant-events/hidden-truths-about-bead">Hidden Truths of BEAD</a> featuring Darren Farnan, general manager of United Fiber, and Jase Wilson, founder and CEO of Ready, on Friday, March 29 at 2:30 pm.&nbsp;

BEAD can be a win-win for co-ops who don’t want to be an ISP   

Co-ops who don't want to be an ISP can still win in BEAD 

Not an ISP? You can still win in BEAD

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Hidden Truth: You don’t need to become an ISP to win in BEAD

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Ready is excited to partner with Calix to help providers get the resources they need in order to connect more families and business to better services.“We’ve heard from numerous providers across the country, but especially in rural communities, that BEAD’s requirements are onerous and its rules are difficult to understand. This partnership will allow us to simplify, streamline, and provide more opportunities for local providers to win at BEAD,” Scott D. Woods, Ready’s President, Public-Private Partnerships said. “This further continues Ready’s commitment to our mission to bring better broadband services to every single household – regardless of geographic location or any other demographic barrier.”Ready’s tools, including <a href="https://ready.net/products/bead-grant-reporting-automation-software" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">automated reporting and compliance</a>, will dramatically simplify each stage of the funding process for Calix’s customers. Ready’s platform, Broadband.money, will be available for customers to use to gain resources and tools necessary for BEAD success.Calix is a key player in supporting its customers in deploying and complying with federal and state government funding programs. Over the past three years, the company has secured over $2 billion in federal and state funding programs including $650 million in green energy funds for Allo Communications.&nbsp; &nbsp;

This partnership will allow rural providers easier access to win and manage BEAD grant funds to connect more households

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Ready excited to partner with Calix to help broadband providers win

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<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/In_blog_graphic_9_02f45fb93e/In_blog_graphic_9_02f45fb93e.png"></figure>Rural electric cooperatives, or RECs, have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in BEAD, a $42.5 billion broadband grant program aimed at connecting families to affordable, reliable broadband service.&nbsp;&nbsp;The stakes couldn’t be higher. If you don’t apply for BEAD, others will and they might not have your members’ best interests in mind. Co-ops like yours can, should and frankly must apply for your share of BEAD.&nbsp;Many aspects of BEAD seem daunting to RECs and co-ops like yours have built in advantages in applying for America’s largest and quite possibly last investment in broadband infrastructure.While many aspects of BEAD look daunting, RECs and Co-ops like yours have several unique built-in advantages when it comes to applying for your share of our nation’s largest-ever broadband bet.&nbsp;BEAD grants, like most government broadband grant programs, require matching funds from other sources in order to qualify for grant funding.&nbsp;In order to qualify for BEAD, applicants must have at least 25% matching funds in most states and cases. It might not be known, however, that these matching funds don’t need to provided in cash or bringing 100% of the equity or credit and lending to the table.&nbsp;This leads to our first BEAD Hidden Truth of Matching Funds.&nbsp;<h2>Your built-in goldmine&nbsp;</h2>Rural electric cooperatives, or RECs, have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to use existing infrastructure as matching funds through the BEAD program.&nbsp;For more than 90 years, RECs have served as great stewards of public resources building physical plants, right of ways and service delivery infrastructure for electricity to thousands of member homes.&nbsp;That prior investment is valuable – literally – as an eligible in-kind BEAD matching fund contribution.&nbsp;In fact, you can count the value of your existing right of way, infrastructure, and make ready cost savings compared to what greenfield actors would need to invest in order to replace what you’ve already built.&nbsp;In some cases, the total value of those assets would exceed the minimum 25% matching fund contribution out of the gates.&nbsp;If your rural electric cooperative, for example, is applying for a $100 million BEAD award, it needs to have $25 million, or 25%, in matching funds in order to qualify.&nbsp;Initially, you might dismiss this as possible since you may not have $25 million in liquid assets or feel comfortable about acquiring a $25 million loan.Let’s say, however, that your electric plant is appraised at $30 million, by a qualified right-of-way appraiser. You now possess 30% of the matching funds for your BEAD award.&nbsp;Perhaps, your cooperative decides that it will offer 50% off for the first 10,000 homes to sign up for a period of two years. This comes at a cost of $5 million to the cooperative, but under BEAD guidelines, it is classified as an “in-kind contribution” that can be used towards matching funds.&nbsp;Another potential source of matching funds can be through a vendor providing a discount for the project. If a vendor provides a 20% discount on equipment, the difference between the original price and the discounted price can be counted towards matching funds.&nbsp;In the hypothetical outlined above, using these three sources alone would result in $40 million, or 40%, of necessary matching funds. And that’s before you even have to think about liquid assets or potential loans.&nbsp;<h2>It’s not a loan which means&nbsp;no collateral necessary</h2>The process begins with applicants acquiring a right-of-way appraisal from a private valuation entity to assign the value of your assets and count that in your application.&nbsp;This is not the same as pledging your assets as collateral against a loan, which was historically required in prior broadband funding programs and REC broadband consortium schemes.&nbsp;Utilizing this goldmine at your disposal is critical because&nbsp;if you don’t apply for BEAD funds, your competition will.&nbsp;<h2>You can’t afford to lose in BEAD&nbsp;</h2>Losing out on BEAD is bigger than any missed business opportunity because it won’t be just your loss, but instead a loss to the families and communities you serve.&nbsp;You owe it to your customers to ensure that taxpayer funding is best spent by providers eager to help their communities close the digital divide.

If you don’t apply for BEAD, your competition will.

BEAD Hidden Truth: Your rural electric co-op is (probably) sitting on a matching funds goldmine

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Hidden Truth of BEAD #1 

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<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/In_blog_graphic_6_3e0d70f9b0/In_blog_graphic_6_3e0d70f9b0.png"></figure>“Oh, give me a home where the [broadband service is at least 100/20], where the [kids can study online and] play.”Well, thanks to the diligent work being done by the Kansas Office of Broadband Deployment (KOBD), you will be able to find that home in the Free State.Kansas gets its nickname from when it became the 34th state to join the Union in 1861, as a free state – that is, one where slavery was illegal.Kansas quickly came to occupy a niche in the American psyche; homesteads on vast tracts of open land beneath a sky full of stars promised freedom and a fresh start for many.&nbsp;But despite the enormous opportunities of moving out west, Kansans weren’t promised an easy life, and their state motto reflects this: Ad astra per aspera – latin for “to the stars through difficulties.”And indeed, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kansascommerce.gov/about/meet-the-team/broadband/">Jade Piros de Carvalho and her team at KOBD</a> has embodied this adage to the letter – stalwart in the face of all of the challenges that have beared down on them. Ready is proud to power KOBD, helping them scale and grow in the ways that they need to in order to ensure that every Jayhawker has access to the broadband they need and deserve.KOBD is using Ready’s Grant Optimizer tool to enable the development of a statewide high-level design for a fiber network that reaches serviceable locations in even the most remote corners of the Free State.&nbsp;The KOBD team is also using Ready’s Challenge Process Coordinator to facilitate the state’s challenge process. Kansas is racing to be one of the first states to actually deploy BEAD funding as every day without deploying broadband infrastructure is another that families go without broadband.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Screenshot_2024_02_29_at_12_08_1_15e2683f90/Screenshot_2024_02_29_at_12_08_1_15e2683f90.png"></figure>Kansas is also making use of the Ready Research Platform as well as the Performance Test &amp; Survey in order to assist with broadband availability research and network design.A few things come to mind when most people think of the state of Kansas: agriculture, buffalo, sunflowers, and maybe the Wizard of Oz. But the KOBD team is working hard to get “high-speed broadband” added to Kansas’ game of word association.

The Stars are Aligning for Kansas as it seeks to improve broadband connectivity.

The Kansas Office of Broadband Deployment  is pushing hard to get Kansans Broadband

Kansas is Ready for BEAD

The Stars are Aligning for Kansas as it seeks to improve broadband connectivity

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The Free State is Working to Make Broadband Affordable and Accessible to All

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<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/In_blog_graphic_4_5b30a954c2/In_blog_graphic_4_5b30a954c2.png"></figure>Broadband Expansion and Access of Mississippi (BEAM), Mississippi’s state broadband office, has charted a course to 100 percent broadband coverage for the residents of The Magnolia State, powered by Ready’s suite of software solutions.&nbsp;Aside from being the state that’s most fun to spell out loud, Mississippi was ground zero for a new American sound as the birthplace of blues artists like&nbsp; B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Big Joe Williams.&nbsp;&nbsp;You also can’t forget the food scene in Mississippi either. Many out-of-staters have seen their jaws hit the floor after a bite of gas station fried chicken. Nothing served at the same address as diesel has the right to taste so good.&nbsp;But gas stations serve a purpose that may be unfamiliar to some. Oftentimes, a gas station is more than a place to fill up your truck; it’s the general store; it’s the local watering hole; and in Mississippi, they often serves as anchor institutions where local residents can access reliable broadband service. Tracking institutions like these is just one of the ways that Ready helps to power the State Broadband Office of Mississippi.&nbsp;Mississippi is using Ready’s Grantor Portal, Grant Optimizer, Performance Test &amp; Survey, and Challenge Process Coordinator to assist BEAM in connecting the state’s communities. Ready has also assisted with stakeholder outreach and engagement on the ground in Mississippi.The BEAM Team – known to their fans as the Dream Team – set an extremely high bar for state broadband offices around the country.&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/broadband-leaders/making-broadband-a-reality-for-mississippians">Sally Burchfield Doty</a>, a former Mississippi State Senator and Executive Director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, leads a small but intensely driven team that has accomplished so much in such a narrow window of time.&nbsp;BEAM has managed hundreds of funding applications and deconflictions to their data, and enabled a request for comments window and a post-award lifecycle that extends for years in the future – all through a single platform.&nbsp;Sally and her team also make a point of spending time in the trenches, going to communities all around the state, engaging with the families and communities across The Magnolia State as far south as the Gulf Coast to the Delta region in the state’s northwest corner and the Black Belt in the northeast region.&nbsp;The Magnolia State has a long, winding road ahead to reach 100 percent broadband coverage, but they have built a foundation of success that will enable them to reach their dreams of broadband for all Mississippians.

Broadband for all is more than a slogan in The Magnolia State.

The Magnolia State continues to plant the seeds for BEAD success

Mississippi is Ready for BEAD

Broadband for all is more than a slogan in The Magnolia State

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Mississippi takes major steps towards BEAD readiness

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The Magnolia State continues to plant the seeds for BEAD success and beyond 

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<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Indiana_In_blog_graphic_96bd7accbf/Indiana_In_blog_graphic_96bd7accbf.png"></figure>Hoosiers can rest easy knowing that their state broadband office is pulling out all the stops to ensure that every family and community in Indiana gets served with affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.in.gov/history/about-indiana-history-and-trivia/emblems-and-symbols/what-is-a-hoosier/">Though no one is 100 percent certain where the term “Hoosier” originated</a>, one thing’s for sure – it certainly roles off the tongue much better than “Indianians” (which is technically also correct, but who would opt to use that over Hoosier?). Though less than 14 percent of the population of the Hoosier state lives in rural areas, in excess of 80 percent of the state’s area is devoted to farmland and forests. In fact,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/faqs/#:~:text=related%20to%20agriculture%3F-,Which%20are%20the%20top%2010%20agriculture%2Dproducing%20States%3F,%2C%20North%20Carolina%2C%20and%20Wisconsin.">according to the USDA</a>, Indiana ranks 8th in order of total agricultural output.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Optimizer_9e778408df/Optimizer_9e778408df.svg?updated_at=2024-02-26T21:54:40.711Z" alt="Grant Optimizer">
</div>&nbsp;Ensuring that Hoosiers have access to the broadband they need goes beyond telehealth, distance learning, and the other familiar components of digital equity that many people in 2024 have become familiar with. For a state like Indiana, technologies powered by broadband that enable innovations like precision agriculture are equally important, as they increase a farmer’s efficiency, and enable them to do more with less.`And that’s exactly what Ready aims to help the Indiana State Broadband office do with its suite of software.&nbsp;Indiana will utilize the Ready Research Platform, Grantor Portal, Grant Optimizer, and the Performance Test and Survey to assist its broadband office in bringing the internet to more families across the state, without the need to hire an army of experts.&nbsp;But what will all of those tools do?&nbsp;These tool’s represent a soup to nuts solution for Indiana; not only will the tools assist internet service providers in crafting a compelling and comprehensive grant application, it will also assist the state broadband office in evaluating and monitoring said applications. Additionally, the Ready Research Platform and Performance Test and Survey will allow the broadband office to play with a full deck – enabling them to make accurate, data-driven decisions that reflect the reality Hoosiers face on the ground.

Indiana plows a path to better broadband powered by Ready’s software.

Indiana is Ready for BEAD

The Hoosier State is using Ready’s suite of software to support their broadband office

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Indiana plows a path to better broadband

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Indiana Is Speeding to Bring Broadband to Every Hoosier

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<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Proof_of_passing_1_a5d4e5c7a6/Proof_of_passing_1_a5d4e5c7a6.svg?updated_at=2024-02-16T22:37:53.076Z" alt="ARC for State Broadband Offices">
</div>&nbsp;The&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-program">Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD)</a> Program is our country’s largest-ever investment in broadband infrastructure and arguably its last. $42.5 billion hangs in the balance, and tens of millions of families are depending on it for improved broadband connectivity.Ensuring broadband access, however, is more than award announcements and disbursing checks.&nbsp;Questions continue to surface while everyone awaits checks in the mail. BEAD’s careful deployment demands years of reporting and compliance auditing in addition to monitoring in order to ensure that funding is utilized efficiently.&nbsp;Providers are familiar with strict reporting and compliance requirements, but BEAD’s requirements are unlike any other. And, more importantly, they don’t end with the BEAD NOFO and its parent legislation, IIJA.&nbsp;NTIA is expected to release additional guidance later in 2024.It’s vital to our nation’s largest-ever broadband infrastructure investment that we empower state broadband offices and providers to meet program obligations.&nbsp;It’s why we’re pleased to announce Ready ARC&nbsp;Problems:&nbsp;Protecting America’s investment is a noble goal, but BEAD’s stringent post-award requirements create a burden for local, non-traditional providers unable to hire an entire team of compliance specialists. Self-reporting also poses its own challenges, and comes with waste, fraud and abuse risks.BEAD presents both an opportunity and challenge for states. States face numerous trackable project parameters that awardees must use to certify accuracy of progress reports. NTIA has adopted an address-level definition for passings, creating a geospatial challenge for state broadband offices.States are also encouraged to surpass minimum reporting and compliance requirements, such as increasing reporting frequency. Recipients are expected to comply with requirements from both the state and NTIA.&nbsp;This problem is exacerbated for grant recipients; meeting compliance and reporting requirements is labor intensive. Very few people want to discuss BEAD’s myriad procurement, labor and environmental regulations.The ARC addresses both problems by minimizing the burden of manual reporting and compliance by tethering directly to the awardee operator’s system of record. ARC uses software where it can be most helpful: the boring, banal back-office paperwork.&nbsp;This leads to the best outcome: all stakeholders united throughout the deployment journey.<h2>ARC for State Broadband Offices</h2>ARC ensures that provider’s live up to their obligations . It also helps grantors ensure awarded deployments remain on track throughout the post-award lifecycle.&nbsp;With ARC, your focus shifts to the most important job to be done: connecting families to better broadband.&nbsp;Empower your sub-grantees to deliver above and beyond.&nbsp;<ul><li>Combat waste, fraud, and abuse</li><li>Meet NTIA’s stringent obligations for reporting and monitoring</li><li>Compare progress to promises made: identify deviations from plans, highlight risks, and proactively communicate updates</li></ul>Through Proof of Passings&nbsp;and the Challenge Process Coordinator’s quarterly map update, Ready states can avoid the market failures of previous broadband grant funding cycles. No more promises made, promises broken.&nbsp;Track BEAD deployments in real timeMonitor sub-grantee progress while keeping up to date with deployment progress. Spreadsheets attached to emails won’t tell you whether service will degrade as a result of oversubscribed, under-invested equipment, but the network knows.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Report_cards_aff436cff9/Report_cards_aff436cff9.svg?updated_at=2024-02-16T21:04:23.683Z" alt="BEAD Dashboard">
</div><h2>ARC for BEAD applicants</h2>Apply for BEAD with confidence – at any size&nbsp;ARC saves busy providers of all sizes time by skipping the manual self-reporting&nbsp; and mountains of paperwork with a single digital console.&nbsp;This allows you to focus on your top priority: connecting happy subscribers. Software can’t pull fiber for you or deliver the great customer service you’re known for.&nbsp;Back Office Secret Sauce is your BEAD success platform built to help you replace your time-intensive, back-office processes with digital workflows.&nbsp;Bye, bye paperwork!<ul><li>Supply updates routinely</li><li>Coordinate deployment with marketing efforts</li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/2_26a1778ca0/2_26a1778ca0.svg?updated_at=2024-02-16T21:04:18.366Z" alt="BEAD Whiteboard">
</div>&nbsp;<h2>ARC for key stakeholders</h2>Busy consultants&nbsp;who need to be able to do more with less.Utility insurers&nbsp;and&nbsp;investors leverage ARC to follow the journey of their grant-backed utility deployments.How does ARC work?&nbsp;ARC replaces manual self-reporting with software together with the proofs required from systems of record utilized by the awardee operator. Answer tough geospatial questions ✨automagically✨with the latest snapshot:<ul><li>Where is the network now?</li><li>&nbsp;How is service at location X?</li><li>What plans are available and at what price?</li><li>Are broadband performance obligations met?</li><li>Audit Trail to ensure all stakeholder interactions are captured and retrievable</li></ul>ARC gathers proof from operator systems of record and, unlike messy manual self-reporting, tethers operator equipment for source-of-truth.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Reporting_and_Compliance_tracking_0ca019e5c4/Reporting_and_Compliance_tracking_0ca019e5c4.svg?updated_at=2024-02-16T21:04:26.859Z" alt="Track Reporting and Compliance">
</div>Proof of PassingsARC’s open Proof of Passings Standard (POPS) allows you to use any BABA-compliant equipment and still benefit from the time savings.<ul><li>Geospatial attestations of service availability, quality, and affordability&nbsp;</li><li>Automate and digitize passings reporting process</li></ul>Proof of Marketing<ul><li>BEAD requires proof that awardees make demonstrable efforts to market plans to unserved and underserved locations.</li></ul>Proof of Labor<ul><li>Davis-Bacon and other labor and workforce requirements are just as vital to BEAD compliance as monitoring service.</li></ul>Broadband Audit<ul><li>The Broadband Audit serves as the ongoing, public report card that evaluates the state of broadband service and penetration in each state and territory</li><li>Get alerts for non-compliant events and upcoming requirements</li></ul>Performance Test &amp; Survey<ul><li>Double check and verify the broadband quality you expect to see within communities</li></ul>And more of the tools that make ARC:&nbsp;<ul><li>Proof of Service</li><li>Proof of Low Cost Option</li><li>Proof of Funding</li></ul>&nbsp;<h2>ARC in the wild: the Diamond State is Ready for BEAD</h2>Arkansas is the first state slated to utilize Ready’s automated Recording &amp; Compliance tools. Arkansas Broadband Office and Arkansas’ internet service providers will enhance their productivity and streamline this important component of the BEAD process between the state, applicants, consultants, and key&nbsp; stakeholders.&nbsp;

Simplifying Reporting and Compliance for every stage of the BEAD process.

Meet NTIA’s strict post-award reporting & compliance requirements 

Automating Reporting & Compliance for BEAD Grants: Introducing ARC

Get the proof you need to succeed in BEAD grants 

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Introducing ARC for BEAD

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Introducing ARC: Automated Reporting & Compliance™️ for BEAD Grants

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States, territories, and tribal governments are at the foot of Mt.&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-program">BEAD</a>; they are not only expected to navigate the dispersion of $42 billion, but also juggle numerous&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/a-fool-proof-recipe-for-stakeholder-engagement">stakeholder relationships</a>, including consultants.Under BEAD, these government entities must award millions to subgrant recipients, with the goal of building out broadband infrastructure for&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/unserved-location">unserved</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/underserved-location">underserved locations</a>, as well as connecting CAIs, or <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/community-anchor-institution">community anchor institutions</a>.&nbsp;Entities face tight deadlines and strict federal guidelines to deploy their funding. Funding recipients must respect individual state requirements, Fair Labor Act laws, trade restrictions and keep secure, detailed records of every step of their journey.&nbsp;As a result of these guidelines, entities must seriously consider utilizing software tools that support their efforts. Failure to do so comes with numerous risks, including clawbacks of federal funding and lawsuits from ISPs, or&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/isp-or-provider">internet service providers</a>, and others impacted.&nbsp;Here’s some ways that entities working with consultants can leverage data-driven software tools to maximize their investment:&nbsp;<h2>Meeting deadlines&nbsp;</h2>The NTIA’s BEAD NOFO, or the&nbsp;<a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/BEAD%20NOFO.pdf">BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity</a>,&nbsp;outlines specific deadlines and timelines for states, tribal governments and U.S. territories throughout the BEAD process.&nbsp;Entities so far have been issued&nbsp;<a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/news/latest-news/biden-harris-administration-awards-29-million-louisiana-first-internet-all">initial planning funds</a>,&nbsp;submitted their five-year plans and Volume I and II initial proposals. Louisiana was the&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/louisiana-is-ready-for-bead">first state in the country</a> to receive approval for both its Volume I and II proposals.&nbsp;States have flexibility in conducting their challenge process although there are some parameters set by the NTIA.&nbsp;Challenge processes must allow for local governments, nonprofits and broadband service providers to “challenge” a determination made by the state in its initial proposal regarding which locations are underserved, underserved or operate as a community anchor institution thus possessing subgrant eligibility.&nbsp;Broadly speaking, the challenge process is supposed to allow time for “a unit of local government, nonprofit organization, or broadband service provider” to “challenge a determination made by the Eligible Entity in the Initial Proposal” regarding which locations are underserved, unserved, or CAIs, and thus, eligible for the subgrants.&nbsp; Designated consultants must be equipped with the appropriate tools to serve entities aiming to succeed in BEAD.&nbsp; <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator">Ready’s Challenge Process Coordinator</a> provides comprehensive services to states undergoing their challenge process. This includes detailed speed tests, specific datasets at the neighborhood level and robust collaborative workflows that allow entities and their consultants to focus their efforts and resources more efficiently to close their digital divide.&nbsp;Applicants face a myriad of complex requirements which vary by state and a&nbsp;<a href="https://broadband.money/blog/think-you-can-complete-your-bead-application-in-90-days-think-again">tight timeline that must be adhered to in order to be successful in BEAD</a>. (Hint: If you’re an applicant reading this after the application has become public, it might be too late!)&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Application_Review_png_a5ba2b454f/Application_Review_png_a5ba2b454f.png"></figure><h2>Meeting Reporting and Compliance Requirements</h2>It doesn’t end with deadlines for states either. Entities must be sure that they’re properly managing their data and fulfilling specific reporting and compliance requirements.&nbsp;For states, the reporting and compliance requirements are staggering. They are time consuming, labor intensive, and come with no margin for error. Entities are expected to collect and maintain data about specific projects and deployment areas, workforce data, weather-and-climate related risks and a myriad of other factors.&nbsp;A&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/data-driven-state-broadband-offices">data-driven state broadband office</a> strives for transparency in its record keeping&nbsp; and, more importantly, eagerly seeks to avoid subjectivity and ambiguity at all costs.&nbsp;Ready’s Grantor Platform supports entities and their consultants through managing the vast amount of data through every stage of the BEAD process, including the challenge process and ongoing reporting and compliance requirements, thus decreasing the man hours necessary to fulfill these obligations.Officials and consultants can view and compare detailed network build costs across their project areas taking advantage of optimal pathways to connect every home in need, regardless of technology. This macro-level view of the state’s current broadband offerings – alongside socioeconomic and geospatial data – allows for leaders to access a full picture in order to make data-informed decisions.&nbsp;Officials and consultants can view detailed network build costs across their state or governing area, and weigh the needs in each part of the state. They can also identify optimal pathways to connect every home in need, using fiber and wireless designs gathered from across the state, using Ready to apply automatic mathematical models.<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Optimizer_png_1_e7ca6af4bb/Optimizer_png_1_e7ca6af4bb.png"></figure>By providing both a macro-level view of the state’s current broadband service offerings, coupled with socioeconomic and geospatial place data, as well as micro-level views of each broadband serviceable location and county, officials and their consultants can zoom in and out of any given area, and get a full picture of the needs in one area compared to the needs across the state.&nbsp;Ready’s Grantor Platform also provides a cache of post-grant functionalities, including project monitoring, management, and automated compliance reporting allowing for entities and consultants to proceed without worry about unfair scrutiny of their decisions.&nbsp;Ultimately, these features enable states to ensure that their projects are on track, compliant with regulations, and deliver&nbsp; desired outcomes.<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/BEAD_CPC_png_942b32465e/BEAD_CPC_png_942b32465e.png"></figure><h2> A Win-Win for Entities and Consultants&nbsp;</h2>Partnering with Ready serves as a win-win for entities and consultants eager to simplify and streamline adherence to BEAD regulations, and maximize the multi-billion dollar investment in broadband infrastructure.&nbsp;Leveraging Ready’s comprehensive software solutions allows for state broadband offices and consultants to maintain control and security over its data, ensure resource allocation, and meet their entity’s broadband objectives.&nbsp;In short, states will have solutions configured to their specific needs while owning the data model allowing for consultants to focus on solving complex problems – rather than shuffling through yet another Excel sheet.&nbsp;

States, territories, and tribal governments are at the foot of Mt. BEAD; they are not only expected to navigate the dispersion of $42 billion, but also juggle numerous stakeholder relationships, including consultants.

States can get the most from their consultants using compliant, fast, secure web software 

How states can get the most from their consultants 

The key lies in compliant, fast, secure web software 

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Unlocking consultant’s highest potential 

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Unlocking consultants' highest potential 

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Numerous states are undergoing BEAD challenge processes and the stakes for broadband offices to properly adjudicate couldn’t be higher.Virginia’s challenge process, which launched in November, has resulted in 266,000 challenges across 163,00 eligible locations.&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/broadband-leaders/how-dr-tamarah-holmes-plans-on-connecting-the-commonwealth-to-broadband" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dr. Tamarah Holmes,</a> Virginia’s <a href="https://ready.net/broadband-leaders/how-dr-tamarah-holmes-plans-on-connecting-the-commonwealth-to-broadband" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">broadband director,</a> says the review process is taking longer than initially anticipated as the process moves into the rebuttal phase.Louisiana was the first state to launch its challenge process in October 2023 and is currently awaiting results of the process.State broadband offices seeking a successful challenge process and, by extension, a smooth adjudication process should be sure take these three steps:&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/A_712eb4aaaf/A_712eb4aaaf.png"></figure><h2>Always be sure to limit the number of addresses per challenge</h2>States seeking the best results should be sure to adopt a “less is more” mindset. &nbsp;States should accept no more than 500 locations in a single challenge as a smaller amount of locations eliminates the risk of a bulk denial. It’s better to submit multiple challenges with a smaller number of locations than one single challenge with hundreds of locations.It’s important to incentivize stakeholders to group locations with one another logistically, such as by geographical proximity. Challenges should feature addresses within a 25 mile radius of one another and along county lines rather than 250 miles from each other and across five separate counties in different corners of the state.“It’s about striking the balance between the number of addresses in each challenge being as low as possible, but also avoiding too many challenges with too many addresses in smaller communities,” Earnie Holtrey, Ready's Director of State and Local Government Relationships and Indiana's former broadband director, said. “States are going to have to figure out the best way to strike this balance with their communities.”&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/B_acb2a0483f/B_acb2a0483f.png"></figure><h2>Be sure to ask for as much evidence and data as possible to make for a strong adjudication&nbsp;</h2>States possess enormous discretion (with NTIA approval) to establish a challenge process, per the BEAD NOFO. State broadband offices must utilize data and evidence to run a successful,&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/data-driven-state-broadband-offices">data-driven broadband office</a> along with adjudicating challenges submitted through the challenge process.Additionally, the NOFO grants the ability for states to determine their geographic location of its choice for applicants. This means that some states will choose to utilize pre-defined locations while others will choose to allow applicants to define their project areas.“If the Eligible Entity allows prospective subgrantees to define proposed project areas, it must develop a mechanism for de-conflicting overlapping proposals (for example, by de-scoping some locations from a provider’s proposed project area) to allow for like-to-like comparison of competing proposals,” reads the BEAD NOFO. &nbsp;“Whatever process is selected, the Eligible Entity must ensure it has a plan for serving all unserved and (where it has sufficient funding) underserved locations.”The best way for states to take advantage of this flexibility is by &nbsp;utilizing an<a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator"> easy-to-use platform</a> that fulfills each state’s individual requirements along with those set by BEAD and NTIA, but also avoids human error. The platform additionally should incorporate geospatial tools to ensure evidentiary standards are met and streamlines workflows.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/C_2d30c191f0/C_2d30c191f0.png"></figure><h2>Challenges that are strong make for an easy adjudication&nbsp;</h2>Prepare municipalities, non-profit organizations and elected officials to make their strongest challenges through effective&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/blog/a-fool-proof-recipe-for-stakeholder-engagement">stakeholder engagement</a>.This starts with explaining the challenge process to those who are eligible to submit challenges and helping to craft task forces to reach locations eligible for challenges. Connect Louisiana’s executive director Venneth Iyengar and Thomas Tyler, deputy director,&nbsp;<a href="https://ready.net/broadband-leaders/bayou-broadband">hosted a series of events across the Bayou State explaining the challenge process,</a> what constitutes a strong challenge and how to use the state’s custom platform built by Ready to submit a challenge. &nbsp;“It’s important to remember that your stakeholders aren’t anywhere near as informed about BEAD or the challenge process as the office which is in the driver’s seat,” Holtrey said. “States must fill in the gaps of this knowledge and clearly illustrate what’s a strong challenge.”&nbsp;

Learn what steps states must take when adjudicating Challenge Process Coordination challenges for BEAD grants.

There’s a lot at stake here – for both states and residents

States must ensure that challenge processes include three steps

Three must-dos for states adjudicating challenge processes

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Three steps states must take when adjudicating CPC challenges

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Well, it’s been a fascinating week in Washington, D.C. for the broadband industry! NTIA just released its Model Challenge Process Guidance for Initial Proposals. As you are aware, BEAD includes the requirement that each Eligible Entity submit an Initial Proposal describing, among other things, a “challenge process” under which a unit of local government, tribal government, nonprofit organization, or broadband service provider may challenge a determination made by the Eligible Entity in the Initial Proposal as to whether a particular location or community anchor institution is eligible for BEAD funds, including whether a particular location is unserved or underserved.NTIA sought feedback from the public and 61 stakeholders filed comments. See <a href="https://internetforall.gov/bead-challenge-process-policy">Internet for All </a>to access the Model Guidance and related documents.To prepare for your challenge, check out <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator">Ready’s Challenge Process Coordinator</a>, and be sure to stay tuned to <a href="https://ready.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ready.net</a> and <a href="https://broadband.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.io</a> for additional information.&nbsp;

Read the NTIA's newly released Model Challenge Process Guidance for Initial Proposals.

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NTIA Announces Updated BEAD Challenge Process Policy

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Years in the making, state broadband offices now know their allocation of America’s largest ever and possibly last major investment in broadband.

Congrats NTIA and State Broadband Offices – List of BEAD Grant Allocations

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Congrats NTIA and State Broadband Offices: List of BEAD Grant Allocations

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Congrats NTIA and State Broadband Offices - List of BEAD Grant Allocations

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<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Performance_Test_and_Survey_1_f8f7c02c99/Performance_Test_and_Survey_1_f8f7c02c99.svg?updated_at=2023-05-08T18:46:14.458Z" alt="Map Figure"></div><h2>State Broadband Offices: The NTIA provided crystal clarity in the Model Challenge Process. You can (and should) incorporate speed test data in order to avoid pitfalls in your BEAD implementation. Here’s how to do it effectively while meeting acceptable evidence requirements.</h2>NTIA’s excellent guidance makes it crystal clear: Unlike <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/fabric" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FCC’s Fabric</a>, you can (and should) incorporate speed tests in your State’s BEAD <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/challenge-process" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Challenge Process</a>. You are encouraged to seek this critical form of evidence, as long as the data you gather meet acceptable evidence guidelines.Speed tests (or performance tests, as we like to call them) are your office’s best chance at getting objective ground truth about the broadband reality for locations and areas.How can you use performance tests in your office’s challenge process? There are two paths you can take:<ol><li>Embrace performance tests for validating service levels and challenges to help your office make defensible, objective decisions in your BEAD allocation.</li><li>Ignore performance tests for your validation (but please note that providers can still submit tests to you as evidence).</li></ol>Data-driven broadband offices will choose #1 – using performance tests to make better choices. The best broadband offices will go a step further and supply the tools that help Permissible Challengers generate NTIA-compliant acceptable evidence in performance tests generated in a simple-to-use, centralized portal.&nbsp;<h3>Why Should You Bother with Speed Tests?</h3>NTIA gave you a strong, thoughtful framework in which to develop and assert your own evidentiary standard. Why should you bother with speed tests? Because source-of-truth observational data like the kinds speed tests provide give you the best opportunity to validate provider claims of service. Gathering evidence around observed performance lets you shape a more objective view of where and to what extent you should focus your team’s efforts and BEAD resources. A well-executed evidence process can set your office up for the objectivity you’ll need to deliver generations of success.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/generations_and_legacy_5c4a17a52a/generations_and_legacy_5c4a17a52a.svg?updated_at=2023-05-08T16:17:51.857Z" alt="Generations and Legacy Figure"></div>Providers can use speed tests in rebuttals.&nbsp;You can use speed tests to build your understanding of broadband reality. You can specify that Permissible Challengers leverage your test.&nbsp;If you deploy your own, you’ll have a much better shot at achieving success with BEADHow will you get defensible, compliant evidence? The NTIA Model Challenge Process defines a clear but high bar for collecting source-of-truth (aka “citizen-sourced”) service quality evidence. It crystallizes what’s allowable and sets a specific standard for acceptable evidence.While NTIA provides crystal clear guidance on what counts as acceptable evidence, it’s up to your state how you go about obtaining it. It’s up to you to supply the tools and framework in which you collect data for your Challenge Process from Permissible Challengers.&nbsp; &nbsp;<h3>When Should Our State / Territory Gather Performance Test Data?&nbsp;</h3>If you decide to go the data-driven, proactive route for your BEAD implementation, in order to give your office the best chance at using performance data, it’s recommended that you get your Performance Test &amp; Survey set up right away.&nbsp;Within NTIA’s 10 phase challenge process, your office must include the following four step-by-step phases within its challenge process:<ol><li>Eligible locations published<ul><li>Include evaluation criteria, and registration process.</li><li>NTIA lets your office define its own “rigorous evidentiary review.”&nbsp;</li><li>While you can propose a deviation from NTIA’s guidelines, they might not approve the deviation, and they’ve already thought of everything you need to run an empirically defensible process. So it’s best to focus on making the most of your time and resources in facilitating the collection of acceptable evidence from Permissible Challengers.&nbsp;</li><li>Offer your office’s official challenge process with challenger login and testing framework.</li><li>Publish your Broadband Audits to show where your evidence suggests that service is underserved, unserved, or unavailable.</li></ul></li><li>Challenge phase<ul><li>You can proactively seek performance test data as validation of provider claims where you deem necessary, for example, for any provider submitting more than 1,000 challenges that do not match your broadband audit data.</li></ul></li><li>Rebuttal<ul><li>Avoid Wait &amp; See during this period. Use this time to get additional validation.</li><li>You can also set an expiration on challenges received if evidence isn’t submitted to reject .</li></ul></li><li>Final determination<ul><li>Incorporate performance tests and survey data gathered into your Challenge Process Coordinator.</li><li>Publish your sustained challenges and rejected challenges with reason code(s) to your public map and provider management system.</li></ul></li></ol>&nbsp;<h3>Who Can Submit Challenges?</h3>NTIA defines who can submit challenges to states, known as Permissible Challengers:<ul><li>Local governments including but not limited to counties, municipalities, regional organizations and councils of local governments Tribal governments – but bear in mind that you must follow <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/tribal-data-sovereignty" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tribal Data Sovereignty</a> guidelines while cooperating with Tribal governments.</li><li>Providers with service in your state / territory.</li><li>Note that providers can submit their own tests in rebuttal, but that such submissions need to meet acceptable evidence standards, and must demonstrate at least 80% of target upload and download speeds.</li><li>Non-profit organizations such as state-specific associations (for instance MERIT Network), or national allies such as Superhighway EDU, National Digital Inclusion Alliance, Connect Humanity, and more.</li></ul>At this time, individuals may not submit challenges directly, but states can work with on-the-ground partners using permission-based tools in order to ensure efficient, centralized aggregation of submissions.The rest of this quick post outlines how your state’s office can meet NTIA’s higher bar for acceptable evidence, along with a few tips for making the most of your state’s evidence discovery process without needing to hire an Army.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Get Defensible, Transparent, NTIA-Compliant Speed Tests</h2><h3>1. You Need More than a Map</h3>Your map is an important tool, but you need much more than a map in order to make effective use of speed tests.&nbsp;In addition to your map, your published challenge process site should include:<ul><li>Guidelines that clearly explain your evidentiary standard.</li><li>A way for Permissible Challengers to register with your office.</li><li>Your broadband audits showing Community Anchor Institutions, last known service level, and more.</li><li>Your office’s official testing tool, for Permissible Challengers to utilize.</li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><figure>
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Test_Survey_and_Results_1a7e9956b3/Test_Survey_and_Results_1a7e9956b3.svg?updated_at=2023-05-08T18:49:47.936Z">
<figcaption>Ready Performance Test &amp; Survey includes three tests in one, plus configurable survey. 100% customized to your identity, 100% compliant with NTIA acceptable evidence guidelines.</figcaption>
</figure></div><h3>2. Require Permissible Challengers to register with your office</h3>Provide a secure login for your Permissible Challengers (local govs, Tribal govs, non-profits, and providers). This way, your team has a structured relationship with potential challengers and applicants from the outset, giving you the ability to validate and approve Permissible Challengers in an orderly, equitable way.Through your Challenge Process Coordinator you can run an efficient, centralized process that produces NTIA-compliant acceptable evidence as the default – dramatically reducing your time and energy spent collating data through email attachments, freeing you up to think strategically and provide extra coverage to small, local &amp; <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/non-traditional-broadband-provider" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">non-traditional providers</a>.The best systems let the entity seamlessly roll over into grant applications without separate credentials.&nbsp;Make sure your system rigorously secures any evidence gathered.&nbsp;Off-the-shelf sales force systems will not provide the specific workflows you’ll need to coordinate among challengers.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><video controls="" autoplay="" muted="">
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<figcaption>Challenge Process Coordinator lets you sustain challenges, request more evidence, set expirations on unsubstantiated claims, and lets you coordinate messaging from a single system rather than a chaotic process across dozens of communications channels.</figcaption>
</figure></div><h3>3. Supply your performance test &amp; survey for Permissible Challengers</h3>Your office will realistically receive more than 100,000 challenges from dozens of challengers. Some offices will receive 1,000,000 challenges from hundreds of challengers.&nbsp;While Permissible Challengers can supply their own testing infrastructure, making your own official, recommended Performance Test &amp; Survey available to Permissible Challengers with clear usage brings many key advantages to your office:&nbsp;<ul><li>Ensures the highest quality, NTIA-compliant data is generated.</li><li>Avoids wasting everyone’s time and energy with fragmented tests, non-acceptable evidence, and messy back and forth.&nbsp;</li><li>Makes it easy to coordinate with Tribes while respecting Tribal Data Sovereignty.</li><li>Removes the barrier to submitting compliant evidence: It will be difficult for small, local and non-traditional providers to build their own compliant tests since no off-the-shelf-tests meet NTIA’s acceptable evidence criteria.</li></ul><h3>4. Be Inclusive:&nbsp;</h3>Making your challenge process inclusive helps you empower small, local &amp; non-traditional providers while avoiding unnecessary lawsuits and process delays. At a minimum, your Performance Test &amp; Survey and Challenge Process Coordinator should:<ul><li>Meet Section 508 Accessibility Guidelines.</li><li>Include SMS &amp; voice options for those without internet.</li><li>Work with Tribal govs to ensure participation while respecting Tribal Data Sovereignty.</li></ul><h3>5. Go on the Offensive / Outbound FTW</h3>Since you only get one chance to validate your broadband audit and any provider rebuttals, you might as well take the opportunity to verify service quality in areas you know or suspect to be historically underserved.Consider reaching out to occupants of BSLs in historically underserved areas if challengers have submitted large quantities of challenges. The “trust but verify” principle would mean using the set of Broadband Serviceable Locations contained in of challenges from all challengers who submitted more than 1,000 disputed challenges as your outbound mailing list.&nbsp;This effort will take a little printing budget and team effort but can pay of in dividends for your office since:<ul><li>Build it and they will come is not an effective strategy – distribution is required to get results.</li><li>As a gov entity you can send out mailers at &nbsp;rate and special print costs, for sub 10 cents apiece.</li><li>For a relatively small amount of money you can dramatically increase the resolution of your understanding of not only service availability but also affordability, quality of experience, and more.&nbsp;</li></ul><div class="raw-html-embed"><figure>
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<figcaption>Build your office’s outbound campaign. Include snail mail to BSL occupants in historically marginalized areas.</figcaption>
</figure></div><h3>6. Off the shelf solutions won’t work: you’ll need to buy or build</h3>Read NTIA’s challenge process guidance and Model Challenge Process carefully. Acceptable evidence has a high bar. You are encouraged to develop your office’s evidentiary standard on the minimums supplied by NTIA. You should:<ul><li>Use more than one speed test. Two is better than one, but Performance Test &amp; Survey includes three complete tests.&nbsp;</li><li>While no single test is perfect, running multiple tests together in one shot combined with survey data can help you to build up your understanding in an empirically defensible way.</li><li>However, taking two speed tests can be a challenge for BSL occupants, so the experience should be designed to fire the tests in serial (as running tests in parallel can produce false positives).&nbsp;</li><li>Geolocate results to the survey / test submitter.&nbsp;</li><li>But you’ll need to comply with Tribal Data Sovereignty for results gathered from Tribal stakeholders.&nbsp;</li><li>Include timestamps on tests taken in order to ensure provider rebuttals aren’t only run during extreme off-peak hours.</li></ul>For best results, remind test takers to take tests at specific on-peak hours, and get a time series (more than one test at different times) from BSL occupants in hotly contested areas. &nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><figure>
<img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Test_survey_and_results_1_88a3c9bdee/Test_survey_and_results_1_88a3c9bdee.svg?updated_at=2023-05-08T18:55:23.928Z">
<figcaption>From acceptable evidence gathering to one-click export in acceptable data format, Performance Test &amp; Survey keeps your office compliant. The system also includes a comprehensive, configurable survey in order to fortify the evidence you collect.</figcaption>
</figure></div><h3>7. Go beyond up &amp; down – set your bar high</h3>In the theme of viewing NTIA’s guidance as minimum requirements, it’s Important to remember they do set out a basic <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/latency" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">latency</a> threshold of not-to-exceed 100ms round trip.While BEAD uses upload and download, you are encouraged to incorporate other attributes into your evaluation process. You might as well gather other dimensions as wellIdeally your tests go deeper than general latency.Read the <a href="https://www.bitag.org/documents/BITAG_latency_explained.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BITAG Latency Explained</a> report for a deeper understanding of why buffer-bloat &nbsp;(“working latency”) should be measured in your office’s performance diagnostics.&nbsp;<h3>8. View Permissible Challengers and Anchors as Partners</h3>While <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/community-anchor-institution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs)</a> were ignored in FCC’s Fabric, NTIA’s guidance makes abundantly clear that CAIs are very much at the table in BEAD. Your office can go beyond ensuring your CAIs have gigabit symmetrical service and empower them to help you engage BSL occupants in generating meaningful performance test &amp; survey data.By supplying your Performance Test &amp; Survey as part of your Challenge Process Coordinator, you empower your Permissible Challengers including counties, Tribal governments, regional groups, providers, and non-profits to help your team to make objective, data-driven decisions.If you’re required to identify CAIs, you might as well provide them with your Performance Test &amp; Survey tools and treat them as partners in collecting meaningful source-of-truth data. Performance Test &amp; Survey was developed to follow the <a href="https://broadband.money/lessons/recommendations-for-browser-based-speed-test-surveys" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband Mapping Coalition’s recommended methodology</a> for broadband performance testing. States should consult the BMC recommended methodology if implementing their own performance testing systems.Please remember you’re required to identify CAIs, including CAIs on Tribal Lands as well. When working with Tribes, please ensure your office adheres to Tribal Data Sovereignty. For help engaging Tribes in a compliant way, please ping Tribal Ready.In addition to CAIs, Permissible Challengers including local gov, Tribal gov, non-profits and providers can be major allies in driving adoption of your data-driven efforts – if you provide them the bridge between your office and their efforts.&nbsp;<h2>What's next?</h2>NTIA’s provided crystal clarity: you can and should incorporate performance data into your Challenge Process. It’s up to you how you get there. Whether you build your own technology from scratch or license the Ready State Grantor Platform, you can, should, and must figure out how to incorporate source-of-truth evidence in your challenge process in order to make the most of your BEAD resources. It’s the best way for you to get to the bottom of where service really is needed.

Get the source-of-truth data you need in order to make the most of your BEAD while meeting NTIA acceptable evidence guidelines.

Get the source-of-truth data you need in order to make the most of your BEAD while meeting NTIA acceptable evidence guidelines

The State Broadband Office’s Guide to Speedtests for Challenge Process

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Get Great Speed Test Data for Your Challenge Process

Get Defensible, Transparent, NTIA-Compliant Speed Tests

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</div><h2>How to encourage competition, support diverse participation, and avoid lawsuits in your state’s BEAD grant program.</h2>Over the course of the next five years, all of the states, territories and Native American tribes of the U.S., are preparing to receive and distribute a historic, unprecedented package of $42.45 billion in collective funding for broadband internet expansion projects that help close the “digital divide” within their borders.But as they move through this process, the states will need to demonstrate to the federal government that they are not just giving the money to the “usual suspects” — large monopoly cable providers, internet service providers (ISPs) and traditional telecoms we are all familiar with — not without considering other, smaller, more local and independent, or nontraditional, alternatives as well.That’s because this money state &nbsp;and territories are eligible for comes with some important strings attached: <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/broadband-equity-access-and-deployment-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Broadband Equity, Access And Deployment Program (BEAD)</a>, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Act passed in 2021. States, territories, and tribal governments can in some cases also use funding from the <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/capital-projects-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Rescue Plan Act’s Capital Projects Fund</a> to build out broadband projects, and combine these funds with their BEAD dollars. (States, territories and tribes will be used interchangeably from now on in this article.)BEAD is the largest investment in broadband infrastructure and digital equity in our nation’s history, and it was created expressly to provide broadband connectivity to currently <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/unserved-location" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unserved</a> (lacking internet service at speeds of 25 megabits-per-second download/3 mbps for upload) and <a href="https://broadband.money/broadband-grant-terms/underserved-location" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">underserved</a> (lacking speeds of 100 mbps download/20 mbps upload) locations. It was also created to ensure that “community anchor institutions” receive gigabit broadband service. &nbsp;“Community anchor institutions are defined by the NTIA as entities “such as a school, library, health clinic, health center, hospital or other medical provider, public safety entity, institution of higher education, public housing organization, or community support organization that facilitates greater use of broadband service by vulnerable populations, including, but not limited to, low-income individuals, unemployed individuals, children, the incarcerated, and aged individuals.”<h2>Who must states include when allocating BEAD and other broadband funding?</h2>&nbsp;NTIA’s FAQ says that states “may not exclude cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, public-private partnerships, private companies, public or private utilities, public utility districts, or local governments” from being considered for BEAD funding as the states move to issue it to subgrantees who will actually build out the network infrastructure and services for potential customers within each state’s borders.In other words, states are left with a multi-tier goal: get fast broadband service offerings to individuals and communities that lack such services , but do so in a way that is inclusive and accounts for the opinions and experiences of specific underrepresented groups, while also being sure to consider the needs of smaller providers to accomplish this goal.Based on these goals and requirements, it is clear that state broadband offices face enormous coordination and communication challenges. States need to manage and interface with a wide and numerous array of stakeholders as they go about deciding how to distribute their BEAD (and Digital Equity) grant funds.<h2>Who are the small, local, and non-traditional providers?</h2>Looking at the number of smaller ISPs that could be potential BEAD award recipients, there are actually quite a few for state broadband offices to choose from: in total, there are at least 2,201 ISPs in the U.S. that offer residential internet service at speeds of at least 200 kbps in at least one direction, according to a recent report by <a href="https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-22-103A1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)</a>.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Applicant_Mgmt_interface_ecfd94225d/Applicant_Mgmt_interface_ecfd94225d.svg?updated_at=2023-04-24T21:06:29.128Z" alt="Applicant Interface Figure">
</div>Only 11 of these ISPs offer internet service to areas encompassing 5% or more of the total U.S. population, according to <a href="https://www.telecompetitor.com/fcc-finds-11-isps-that-cover-5-or-more-of-the-u-s-population-number-11-is-a-surprise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Telecompetitor</a>. That means the remaining 2,190 ISPs offer smaller service area footprints, and therefore are likely to be smaller regional companies, utilities, cooperatives, utilities, nonprofits, municipal networks, and other entities that the states should consider when reviewing BEAD subgrant applications.&nbsp;These smaller ISPs are found across the entire country and go by many names and use many different organizational structures. New York City, for example, is home to the volunteer-run <a href="https://www.nycmesh.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NYC Mesh</a>. In addition to gas and power service, the Ohio-based utility <a href="https://www.consolidated.coop/fiber-service-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Consolidated Cooperative</a> offers internet service to customers in the Midwest. In Oregon, the cities of Monmouth and Independence joined forces to launch <a href="https://www.minetfiber.com/about_us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">MINET</a>, “a fiber-to-the-home provider of internet and voice services.”Clearly, there are plenty of existing small and local internet service providers that have demonstrated the ability to build out the infrastructure and possess the organization, knowledge and expertise necessary to connect customers, even in the shadows of more well-funded and better-resourced larger ISPs.On the surface, these facts seem excellent for states looking to hand out BEAD money, as it means there are many smaller providers to evaluate as potential subgrantee award recipients.However, the sheer abundance of these smaller providers actually makes it tough for states to identify and include them in their BEAD subgrantee process.There are fundamental questions that each broadband office must address — How can and should state broadband offices identify the smaller ISPs, reach out to them, and make them aware of the BEAD funding opportunity? How to get them to submit an application to the state broadband office in accordance with the state’s deadlines, timelines, and processes? And how to ensure that these providers comply with all of the state’s and federal government’s numerous regulatory and compliance requirements for BEAD funding?States will undoubtedly find it challenging to connect with, keep track of, and keep smaller providers informed, updated, appraised, and included in their BEAD and other broadband funding opportunities, especially when these smaller providers may not all use the same communications channels — yet states cannot afford to leave them out of their process, or risk the ire of NTIA or ineffectiveness of the BEAD programA state that only included large telcos/cable giants/ISPs in its list of subgrantee award applicants to the NTIA would likely be viewed as exclusionary and anti-competitive.<h2>How states need to document their coordination</h2>The NTIA further wants a state’s broadband office or other similar entity in charge of distributing the funds to document all local coordination and outreach activities by providing a detailed description of its efforts to engage local governments, community groups, underrepresented population as part of the state’s requisite Five-Year Action Plan and continue throughout the entirety of the program, including the state’s Initial Proposal and Final Proposal.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Pyramid_c446ec9789/Pyramid_c446ec9789.svg?updated_at=2023-04-24T21:06:28.719Z" alt="Pyramid Figure">
</div>Throughout it all, NTIA will be evaluating states to see how transparently and effectively they are coordinating and collaborating with these local stakeholders.Clearly, building a process that only includes large telecom companies will not fly if a state wants to remain compliant, and receive and deploy its funds without risking running afoul of the federal government requirements.Historically, large cable companies, telecom giants, and major internet service providers have failed to deliver results when given broadband grants, as <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/in-depth/news/2021/07/14/weve-spent-billions-provide-broadband-rural-areas-what-failed-wisconsin/7145014002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">newspapers have reported</a>. Smaller, non-traditional, and local providers bring variety, innovation, and a willingness to get the job done.Yet working with small, local and non-traditional providers can be a real challenge without a data-centric platform. States will need to get very good at outreach and provider relationship management very quickly.<h2>What states should do to make sure smaller, local, non-traditional providers are included and addressed in the process?&nbsp;</h2>The Ready Grantor Platform from Ready.net is a secure, one-stop-shop web application that helps states ensure that they reach small, local, non-traditional providers.&nbsp;By directing smaller non-traditional ISPs and local groups to a state’s Ready Grantor Platform, states can ensure these smaller entities will have a chance to participate in the BEAD allocation process.That’s because the Ready Grantor Platform includes easy-to-use interfaces, clear standards, application guidance, direct messaging and tools for connecting the state broadband office with any of its authorized intermediaries, stakeholders or potential BEAD applicants — and vice versa.&nbsp;Applicants can see exactly how their proposed projects align with state objectives and scoring criteria. Applicants and states can utilize Ready’s underlying geospatial data sets to make informed choices, for instance, socio-demographic information.It delivers expert knowledge to applicants when and where it’s needed most – in the application portal and throughout the application process. Applicants will be able to follow along in real-time as they prepare, submit, receive feedback or questions on, and ultimately learn the fate of their application.&nbsp;Applicants can use the Ready Grantor Portal to connect with the grantor, submit challenges, apply for grants, and manage their grant reporting.Thanks to the clear interface and easy built-in communications tools between the state broadband office and applicants, both parties can stay in constant contact.Applicants can see how well their project plans align with the state’s priority broadband objectives, and can make adjustments necessary to secure their fair share of the grant funding needed to connect their communities.For states, Ready Grantor makes it easy to manage the influx ofBEAD subgrant applications from a diverse pool, performing an “apples to apples” comparison of them, objectively evaluating hundreds or thousands of applicants efficiently and equitably.It is 100% customizable to a state’s vision, guidelines and identity for its BEAD funding. It follows the NTIA’s relevant and applicable guidelines, and allows states to get and stay on the same page with their stakeholders.&nbsp;With tools including built-in messaging and the <a href="http://broadband.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Broadband.io Community</a> channels and support for processes ranging from Applicant Experience to Local Coordination and Letters of Community Support, the Ready Grantor Platform makes it easy for states to engage in direct communication with applicants and stakeholders — one on one, one to many, many to one, and all permutations that a state and applicant may need.&nbsp;States can also hold recurring Office Hours with prospective applicants. States that leverage this technology will do a better job engaging applicants more inclusively.&nbsp;Little wonder the states that are already using Ready Grantor Platform, like Mississippi, have rave reviews for it: “Ready is such an asset for BEAM (Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi),” says Sally Doty, Mississippi’s broadband director. “We work closely with their team on a daily basis and continue to be impressed with the tools customized for our State. Their team is responsive and provides an innovative platform for the entire grant process.”<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gqiUVQPDOYw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><h2>Get the most from your resources</h2>Make sure skilled, capable providers of all sizes have what they need to apply for your state’s BEAD funds.The Ready Grantor Platform is a comprehensive solution that offers built-in strength tests, mapping, speedtest and socioeconomic data layers, geospatial information from the U.S. Census and multiple additional sources, organized tab views, private and public messaging, and more.It provides a fully guided grant journey customized to small business owner requirements. The platform has a state-specific scoring algorithm that ranks applications based on their suitability. It also allows for seamless communication with grant applicants. The platform offers scalable local coordination, including chat support, user forums, and DMs with applicants. It is an all-in-one solution and platform that simplifies the entire grant process for BEAD.Use it for your state broadband office now.

Make sure skilled, capable providers of all sizes have what they need to apply for your state’s BEAD funds.

Get Ready to Work with Small, Local, and Non-traditional Providers

Building a Legacy of Success

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Building a Fair and Inclusive Process

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</div><h2>Boost productivity without busting your budget</h2>All of the states, territories, and Native American tribes that comprise the United States have been given a historic, once-in-a-generation opportunity to expand and improve internet service within their borders. It's the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD). &nbsp;BEAD represents $42.45 billion in grant funding from the $1 trillion Infrastructure bill that is being administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). BEAD is designed to fund broadband infrastructure projects that seek to connect locations that are presently unserved (lacking internet service at speeds of 25 megabits-per-second download/3 mbps for upload) and underserved (lacking speeds of 100 mbps download/20 mbps upload).The NTIA has already made its initial planning funding allocations to the broadband offices of states, territories and tribes (referred to collectively as “states” hereafter), and will announce additional funding allocations throughout the remainder of 2023 — great news for internet service providers (ISPs) and cooperatives seeking to build out broadband infrastructure, and especially their potential customers. &nbsp;However, securing funding is only the first step. An incredibly complex, multi-stage, and highly-regulated process lies ahead for state broadband offices motivated to take advantage of this opportunity to improve the availability of the most critical infrastructure of the 21st century for their residents.&nbsp;Now, with small staffs, broadband offices must continue along the process and tackle four other major ongoing work areas:<ol><li>coordinate with hundreds or thousands of communities and local organizations,&nbsp;</li><li>run an open, effective, and compliant challenge process&nbsp;</li><li>evaluate grant applications for sub grantees</li><li>establish reliable, and compliant, reporting systems and tools</li></ol>What if there was a platform that allowed state broadband offices to complete all of these four work areas securely, efficiently, effectively, and easily — without breaking their limited budgets? The good news is, such a platform exists. Read on to learn more about all the tasks and how they can be completed.<h2>Coordination with hundreds of local stakeholders</h2>As part of the funding requirements, each state, territory, and the District of Columbia must submit a five-year action plan to NTIA that outlines how they will use the funds to achieve the program goals. The plan must address 13 additional requirements, including a needs assessment, a stakeholder engagement strategy, a workforce development plan, a broadband mapping plan, and a performance measurement plan.It must be informed by collaboration with local and regional entities, such as municipalities, counties, tribes, nonprofits, and broadband providers. Developing a comprehensive and realistic plan that meets all the requirements and reflects the diverse needs and interests of the stakeholders is a complex and time-consuming task that requires coordination and expertise.Another place where local coordination is important: securing matching funds. A 25% match is required to use all the BEAD program funds. However, some states and territories may face difficulties in raising matching funds from their own budgets and resources. The BEAD program allows matching funds from federal regional commissions and authorities, or from other federal funds that were provided for broadband deployment under previous legislation. Still, government broadband offices must explore alternative ways to secure matching funds, such as public-private partnerships, bonds, or taxes.But how are you supposed to keep track of all these stakeholders and coordinate between them? If a state broadband office is using a bunch of different tools, they’re likely to become quickly overwhelmed, disorganized, and confused. What’s needed is an all-in-one solution.<h2>Running an open, effective, and compliant challenge process</h2>Both BEAD and the separate but related federal Recovery Act Capital Projects Fund (CPF) require states to administer a process by which local residents and organizations can challenge the state’s official broadband service map in order to prevent duplication of efforts and to ensure projects are prioritized in accordance with federal eligibility requirements.Specifically, the NTIA requires all eligible entities to design and conduct their own “transparent, evidence-based, and expeditious” challenge processes separately, before allocating their BEAD funds to subgrantees. The exact timeline for the broadband challenge process will vary depending on when the state filed its initial proposal and when NTIA approves or disapproves it.First, the state must publicly publish its initial broadband grant proposal and its proposed list of unserved and underserved locations on its website and notify potential challengers of the opportunity to submit challenges. The state will need to launch its public challenge process including clear criteria and procedures for accepting, reviewing, and resolving challenges, and allow 60 days for potential challengers to submit.The state must consider all timely, valid challenges and update its initial proposal with a list of unserved and underserved locations accordingly. The state must then submit its updated initial proposal with identified unserved and underserved locations to NTIA - along with a summary of the challenges received and how they were resolved.The NTIA will review the updated initial proposal and the list of unserved and underserved locations and may request additional information or clarification from the state, which the state broadband office is expected to be in a position to provide. Finally, the NTIA will approve or disapprove the updated initial proposal and the list of unserved and underserved locations based on the program requirements and standards.What information may a state consider from challengers? According to the NTIA, the state broadband office “may decide to accept a broader range of information that may bear on broadband service in an area than is considered in an FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) challenge.” In other words, more information than just speed and latency.The challenge process ensures that the allocation of BEAD program funds addresses the most critical broadband gaps in each state and avoids duplicating or overbuilding existing broadband networks. It also provides an opportunity for local stakeholders to participate in broadband planning and decision-making.Running the challenge process is a major operation for state broadband offices unto itself: How should states invite and keep track of all challenges and who made them? How can they view, analyze and approve or disapprove of them — using what tools, software, or applications? And how will the state broadband office ensure the security, reliability, and compliance of the challenge process with state and federal guidelines? What’s needed is a platform that is tailor-made for running a challenge process with limited staff, resources, and budget, yet optimizes both openness and security for participants.&nbsp;<h2>Evaluating grant applications from subgrantees&nbsp;</h2>Once a state has run its challenge process, it needs to take the final step toward actioning its broadband funds: deciding who is awarded the money.This involves evaluating applications from potential subgrantee recipients based on how they are best equipped to deploy the funds and responsibly connect the state’s unserved and underserved locations to high-quality, affordable broadband services.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Feasibility_Documents_91de45f41a/Feasibility_Documents_91de45f41a.svg?updated_at=2023-04-18T18:17:38.332Z" alt="Feasibility Documents">
</div>To do this, states must consider:&nbsp;<ul><li>how potential subgrantees align with the state’s five-year action plan</li><li>feasibility and sustainability of proposed broadband infrastructure projects</li><li>expected outcomes and impacts</li><li>cost-effectiveness and efficiency</li><li>compliance with program rules and standards, including the Fair Labor Standards Act,</li><li>contribution to advancing broadband equity, access, and deployment in the state The state broadband office must also ensure that subgrantees meet the eligibility requirements for receiving BEAD funds.</li></ul>Again, the question for states becomes, “how do we keep track of all these subgrantee applications and the data contained therein in a secure, easily accessible, and useful way? Spreadsheets and manual data entry won’t cut it with the sheer volume of subgrantee applicants and cross referencing a state will need to do.&nbsp;<h2>Establishing reporting and compliance tools and processes</h2>Throughout the BEAD Program, NTIA will conduct ongoing monitoring of each state’s progress against its plans and ensure that the requirements of the BEAD program and larger Infrastructure bill are met. States will also be required to comply with reporting requirements and monitor their subgrantees — a lot to place on understaffed and overworked offices.Among these reporting requirements are an initial report the state must submit to NTIA within 90 days of receiving its BEAD funds. This report should cover how a state intends to use the funds and how those uses comply with the BEAD goals of connecting underserved and unserved locations and ultimately, the entire country to broadband.States must also submit semi-annual reports to the NTIA, beginning a year after receiving grant funds and continuing till all the funds have been distributed to subgrantees. These semi-annual reports must describe how states are using the funds, the services being provided by them, and the number of locations where broadband service is being made available as a result. States will also need to certify that they are complying with the reporting requirements and any additional ones from the NTIA’s Assistant Secretary.Subgrantees must submit their own reports to the state at least twice a year, proving effective utilization of the funds they received and describing the progress and purpose of every project they carried out with them; as well as any additional requirements the state decides to impose on them. These subgrantee reports must include a list of service locations, the percentage of customers using the service, and the type of facility being constructed and the speed of the broadband service being offered.It’s the state’s responsibility to corral these reports and ultimately ensure funds are properly used by subgrantees. That’s another big item on the state broadband office’s long to-do list.<h2>There’s a lot to do. So how can states do it all effectively and securely?&nbsp;</h2>Clearly, states are about to be slammed with work to comply with BEAD. Yet many face hiring caps and limited budgets.BEAD is the largest broadband program in history, with hundreds of moving parts. But, on average, state broadband offices are staffed with teams of five (5) people. Hiring outside consultants can help. But consultants alone can’t entirely address the challenge as they are typically are limited in the total workload they can take on and time they can devote to a particular projectThere are two possible paths for states to walk: succumb to the workload without doing anything to empower themselves and deliver mediocrity (or worse); or, rise to the challenge and get ready with a digital platform that helps their office’s team do the most possible good with granted funds. This program only happens once, and when the money's gone — it’s gone for good — making it all the more imperative for states get their plans and implementations correct on the first try.Thankfully, there is a turnkey, easy-to-use, flexible and fully customizable solution for states: the Ready Grantor Platform from Ready.net, offering full lifecycle support for every step of their journey. Using this secure, web-based application that is 100% compliant with NTIA and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines, states have access to a single platform to achieve their broadband vision. Using it, teams can automate many routine tasks and focus on more important decision making, selections and allocations.Save time, empower your team, follow along with the journey of your grant awardees with integrated reporting, and get the results you need to distribute BEAD funding effectively and in compliance with regulations.&nbsp;

Use tools to solve Local Coordination, Challenge Process, Grant Applications, and more.

Use tools to solve Local Coordination, Challenge Process, Grant Applications, and More

State Broadband Offices Use Tech to Do More with Less

Force-multiply your team without hiring an army

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Scaling You: How Your State Broadband Office Can Use Tech to Do More with Less

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</div><h2>Achieve Your Vision for BEAD &amp; Beyond</h2>How will your state broadband office make the most of the largest investment in broadband funding in a generation?That’s the question facing states, territories, and Native American tribal governments (used interchangeably in this article from here on out) as the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) prepares to distribute $42.45 billion in broadband grant funding through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program for unserved and underserved communities.States face an overwhelming amount of information with a tight deadline. The NTIA’s announcement of initial allocation funds is scheduled by June 30, 2023 and initial proposal submissions are due 180 days afterward. There's a lot of pressure to build a defensible plan for how to direct their broadband funding in compliance with the NTIA guidelines.Ready Grant Optimizer from Ready.net is a next-generation solution to a very hard problem set states face. Ready Grant Optimizer puts you in control of your state’s criteria selection based on the priorities set by NTIA and allows you to uncover key insights.&nbsp;<h2>The Competitive Grant and Subgrantee Process, Explained</h2>Once states get their initial funding allocations from the NTIA, they are hardly finished with their tasks. In fact, in many ways, the hard work is just getting started: states must choose the final recipients of the funding — the organizations that will actually get the money to build out broadband — according to specific criteria from the NTIA outlined on <a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/BEAD-Frequently-Asked-Questions-%28FAQs%29_Version-2.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pages 46-48 of this document</a> and the <a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/Subgrantee_Selection_Primer_A_Guide_for_Eligible_Entities.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">entirety of this document</a>.Among the mandated criteria are that the initial 20% of grant funding a state receives must be distributed to areas “consisting of at least 80% unserved locations” and “in locations in which the percentage of individuals with a household income at or below 150% of the poverty line applicable to a family of the size involved.”After that, it’s up to the states to decide which “subgrantees,” or grant recipients, get the remaining funds through a “fair, open, and competitive” application process that the state broadband office or other state-level government agency is in charge of organizing, hosting, running and maintaining.Think about the popular singing contests on TV — The Voice, American Idol, and The Masked Singer — where judges must whittle down the best of a whole large group of qualified singers. Now multiply that by thousands or tens of thousands, and you have some idea of the challenge facing state broadband offices, who do not have nearly as many staffers or employees as a popular TV series. The state broadband subgrantee competition is a lot like this, except with internet service providers (ISPs) large and small instead of singers.In this case, those ISPs may be non-traditional providers such as cooperatives and nonprofits, &nbsp;or even private companies.The state will need to collect a range of information from them, including the organization name, the applicant, the origin, the status of the application, the date on which they applied, the amount of funding they are seeking, how much match funding they are bringing to the table (if any), and arguably most importantly, the actual service area they plan to build in. Among the documents that the state can collect are audited financial statements of publicly traded parent companies. And, state broadband offices must evaluate grant applicants’ compliance with fair labor practices.Also, the states must describe the process in an initial proposal and final proposal documents filed to the NTIA, prioritizing unserved areas and ensuring coverage when all is said and done and the funds are all allocated.Therefore, in order to effectively use its funding allocation in compliance with the NTIA and other federal reporting mandates, sate broadband offices must identify the many different locations in a state that are eligible for broadband funding — be it the unserved or underserved — and compare this to the subgrantee applications to find out which subgrantees will get the job done of connecting these areas.It’s a difficult, demanding, highly detailed task that is very tough for states to even begin to approach, let alone get right. Fortunately, there is a solution from Ready.net: the Ready Grant Optimizer, part of Ready.net’s Grant Application Management Engine.Using this and other Ready tools, states can deploy enterprise BOSS (Back Office Secret Sauce - a full business support system/operating support system) to help states manage their relationship with grant-seeking applicants directly through a simple, clean, powerful, easy-to-use cloud-based tool.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Pyramid_1_9f05953271/Pyramid_1_9f05953271.svg?updated_at=2023-04-10T18:21:40.304Z" alt="Pyramid Figure">
</div><h2>What is The Ready Grant Optimizer?&nbsp;</h2>The Ready Grant Optimizer is a helpful tool that offers a one-stop-shop solution for not only managing your state’s subgrantee selection process, but is also part of the larger suite of tools Ready.net offers that together will enable your office to implement and manage your state’s entire comprehensive broadband plan, start-to-finish.In particular, the Ready Grant Optimizer allows you to model target areas of broadband grants investment dollars with precision using dozens of data sets.This tool follows both NTIA and FCC guidelines and is 100% compliant, but it is also configurable to your state’s policies and goals when it comes to broadband funding allocations.By using the Ready Grant Optimizer, you can eliminate guesswork and politics and set the stage for objective management and evaluation of grant application submissions. Based on an algorithm that unifies the complex data needed to make subgrantee awards, the Ready Grant Optimizer enables state broadband offices the ability to easily share, validate, and defend their decisions.<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u3pKFXRY60o" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><h2>How the Ready Grant Optimizer Helps You Manage Subgrantees</h2>You can view all of your grant applicants and applications in a single table view, click into each one to find out more information such as their organization, applicant name, where they filed the application, the status of their application, when they applied, the area they plan to serve, and much more. Then, you can cross reference this information with your state’s broadband service map on Ready.net’s mapping and data collection platform, which includes comprehensive speed test and demographic information, ensuring that you are evaluating the grant applicant with all of the information and context you need to make a decision to approve or deny their funding application.It’s a built-from-scratch solution specifically designed and customized for state broadband offices to be able to run their entire grant application process from one fast, secure, easy-to-use tool. No matter the size of your broadband office staff and the mountain of demands facing you, the Ready Grant Optimizer can make your life easier.This tool will help you publish your criteria and target maps with confidence, so you can unlock insights and achieve unparalleled visibility into the anatomy of plans that connect the most people to affordable, quality broadband.The Ready Grant Optimizer offers Geospatial visualizations of potential project areas in your state, empowering you to identify, prioritize, and rank areas tailored to your state's vision to address broadband needs.<h2>Remove Uncertainty and Indecision — Use Ready Grant Organizer to Manage Your Entire Broadband Subgrantee Allocation Process</h2>It can be easy to get stuck in analysis paralysis when it comes to broadband allocation. However, with the help of the Ready Grant Optimizer, you can overcome this challenge and surface your priorities. Don't leave it to chance - set your criteria and follow your state's guidelines and the federal guidelines to spotlight where best to focus. By using this tool, you can set yourself up for success and ensure that your broadband allocation will be effective and efficient.

Optimize your broadband grant resources with objective, transparent decision-making tools.

Optimize your broadband grant resources with objective, transparent decision-making tools 

Optimizing Your State’s BEAD Allocation

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Get The Most from Your Broadband Grant Resources

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<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Key_Figure_Running_a_Robust_Transparent_Efficient_Challenge_Process_7a8541c401/Key_Figure_Running_a_Robust_Transparent_Efficient_Challenge_Process_7a8541c401.svg?updated_at=2023-04-11T16:53:53.495Z" alt="Map Figure">
</div><h2>Practical Advice for Running an Efficient, Equitable, Data-driven Broadband Grant Challenge Process.</h2>As state broadband offices move to distribute grant money for broadband projects from the $42.45 billion federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the Recovery Act Capital Projects Fund, and other state moneys throughout their states, deciding which locations to prioritize can be extremely challenging.Combined, the funding sources offer what’s expected to be the largest investment in broadband infrastructure across the United States and its territories in a generation — possibly longer — so getting the funding allocations right is imperative for states.Viewing, evaluating, and approving or disapproving public challenges to a state’s broadband Fabric presents a major logistical issue for state broadband offices. How to keep track of all the many challenges, view, analyze and approve or disapprove of them? How to determine which communities are in areas of highest need and direct the appropriate funding to them? It sounds like a complicated and herculean task, and it is, but there is a simple, elegant, and helpful solution for state broad offices to use starting now: The <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Challenge Process Coordinator</a> from Ready.net. Read more about the challenge process and how the Challenge Process Coordinator helps streamline it for broadband state offices/officials/teams below:<h2>Understand the BEAD Broadband Challenge Process: How to Get It Right</h2>According to the <a href="https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov/sites/default/files/2022-09/BEAD-Frequently-Asked-Questions-%28FAQs%29_Version-2.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)</a>, “Any State of the U.S., the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are considered “eligible entities” under the BEAD program and may apply for funding.But the NTIA requires all eligible entities to design and conduct their own “transparent, evidence-based, and expeditious” challenge processes separately, before allocating their BEAD subgrant funds. As the NTIA states, “an eligible entity can incorporate information from its own mapping data and must conduct its own challenge process prior to awarding subgrants for broadband deployment.”Essentially, this means that as the state/eligible entity begins to consider which projects or areas should receive broadband funding and how much, they must also allow the potential funding recipients or residents of the state to challenge the proposed allocations. This challenge process includes determining whether a location is unserved or underserved. If successful, the challenges can be submitted to NTIA for review and approval.When do states need to run their challenge process? The NTIA says “after the submission of the Initial Proposal but before the distribution of funding for broadband deployment.”What information may a state use in their challenge process? Again, the NTIA offers that an eligible entity “may decide to accept a broader range of information that may bear on broadband service in an area than is considered in an FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) challenge.” In other words, <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/BroadbandData/consumers#:~:text=If%20the%20information%20about%20the,map%20and%20submitting%20the%20form." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more information than just speed and latency.</a>What does a state have to share with the NTIA and when? The agency says the state/eligible entity “must notify NTIA of any modifications” to its initial funding proposal/challenge process proposal submitted earlier to qualify for funding awards, such as those “that are necessitated by successful challenges to its initial determinations.” Yet, the NTIA also reserves its own right to reject or confirm challenges.As for when the agency needs states to share this data back with the NTIA, the answer is: “After resolving each challenge and at least 60 days before allocating grant funds for network deployment,” and the data they’re asking for is quite robust and comprehensive, including, “the final classification of each unserved location, underserved location, or eligible community anchor institution within the jurisdiction” of the state/entity.Confusing? You bet. That’s why Ready.net’s <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Challenge Process Coordinator</a> is here to help.<h2>How the Challenge Process Coordinator From Ready.net Helps States</h2>The Challenge Process Coordinator is a secure, fast, online tool with rich and easily navigable data dashboards and 100% compliance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) regulations.The Challenge Process Coordinator was designed from the ground up as a custom tool specifically to help states manage their BEAD and CPF challenge process. It follows the Broadband Mapping Coalition's recommended methodology and integrates seamlessly with a state's Broadband Fabric.By using it, your team at the state broadband office will be able to publish your public map, direct selected members of the public to take reliable, comprehensive broadband speed tests, and then access the results, view multiple layers of data including speedtests and socioeconomic/demographic, invite stakeholders to weigh in, and run your challenge process — all from a single system.<h2>The Tools Your State Broadband Office Needs, All In One Place</h2>With the Challenge Process Coordinator you and your designated team members can quickly see, at a glance, helpful statistics including when your broadband challenge map was most recently updated, how many challenges are currently under review and how many locations they originate from, how many challenges have been processed, how many challenges from different locations have been accepted or rejected.Using highly organized and easy-to-read tabs, you can also click through to view a list of all the specific challenges and see each one’s real-time status using a color coded status indicator, and click through to expand for much more rich information on the specific challenge, including who or what organization originated it and where. Other tabs provide the opportunity to view challenges in-review, processed, and withdrawn.No more messy spreadsheets, missing email attachments, or leaving out legitimate complaints. Take care of your entire challenge process in one place, from anywhere, using your existing infrastructure and the <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Challenge Process Coordinator</a> from Ready.net.What's more, the Challenge Process Coordinator is customizable to fit your state's unique rules and procedures.One of the most valuable features of the Challenge Process Coordinator is its built-in tools for requesting evidence of service. This ensures that you have all the information you need to make informed decisions and accurately reflect broadband coverage in your state.<div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/ready-net-public-assets/Figure_challenge_request_and_documents_692a2bcc13/Figure_challenge_request_and_documents_692a2bcc13.svg?updated_at=2023-04-05T20:34:04.326Z" alt="Pyramid Figure">
</div>If you're feeling overwhelmed by the challenge process, the Challenge Process Coordinator could be the solution you've been looking for. With its user-friendly interface and customizable features, it's a powerful tool that can help you navigate this complex and important process with confidence.Clearly, there’s a lot for state broadband offices to consider when launching, running, and evaluating their NTIA-required challenge process — so much that it can feel overwhelming.Thankfully, there's a great solution waiting in the wings: The Challenge Process Coordinator from Ready.net. By using this super-fast and secure online tool, states can manage the entire challenge process easily in a single place. It's completely customizable, integrates seamlessly with a state's Broadband Fabric, provides built-in tools for requesting evidence of service and reviewing challenges, and connects directly with verified external stakeholders &nbsp;— all while staying compliant with federal rules and regulations. It can help state broadband offices navigate this complex and important process with confidence.Don’t Let Challenges Get You Down. See what the <a href="https://ready.net/products/challenge-process-coordinator" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Challenge Process Coordinator</a> can do for your team.

The pitfalls and hazards of the challenge process, what can be learned from the Fabric model, and how to roll out a Ready Challenge Process

Practical advice for state broadband offices running an efficient, equitable, data-driven broadband grant challenge process. 

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Unlocking consultants' highest potential

There’s no time to waste.

Get Ready to Grow.

Stay up to date with Ready. Join the broadband community.

Stay up to date with Ready.
Join the broadband community.