BEAD Program
About BEAD
The Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program is a federal initiative administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Through this program, Tennessee has been given $813,319,680.22 to expand high-speed internet access through infrastructure and adoption programs.
Final Proposal Public Comment Period
TNECD invites the public to participate in its 7-day public comment period for Tennessee’s BEAD Final Proposal. TNECD will accept public comments through this form 11:59pm CT on September 3, 2025. Please review the below resources prior to submitting a form:
- BEAD Final Proposal
- Final Proposal Data Files
- BEAD Program Monitoring Plan
- DRAFT TNECD BEAD Delegated Grant Authority and Grant Contract Templates
- Environmental and Historic Preservation Documentation
Draft versions of the proposed grant contract templates, as well as the supporting Delegated Grant Authority, are now available for public viewing on the TNECD website. These documents are currently under review by the State's Central Procurement Office, the Department of Finance and Administration, and the Comptroller of the Treasury. Finalized versions of the grant contract templates will be posted to this website once all approvals are obtained.
BEAD Subgrantee Selection Map
We encourage all BEAD applicants to view Tennessee’s Subgrantee Selection Map. This displays the grant application Project Area Units (PAUs) with BSL eligibility data from the Challenge Process and updates to the "No BEAD" locations for the Benefit of the Bargain round.
Key Dates

The schedule below outlines the timeline of the Benefit for the Bargain Application Round, which will take place summer of 2025. Dates marked with an asterisk are tentative.
- Letter of Intent: June 16 – June 24
- Qualification: July 7 – July 16
- Benefit of the Bargain Grant Application: July 7 – July 16
- Benefit of the Bargain Public Comment Period: July 22 – August 1
- Negotiations: July & August*
- Final Proposal Public Comment: August 28 – September 3
- TNECD Final Proposal submission to NTIA: September 4
- Benefit of the Bargain Scalability Evidence Requirements
- Benefit of the Bargain Qualification Application
- Benefit of the Bargain Grant Application
- BEAD Guidebook
- Five Year Action Plan
- TN Model Letter of Credit
- BEAD Construction Timeline Estimate
- BEAD Budget Helptext
- BEAD Application Submission - Certification
- BEAD Budget Template
- BEAD Benefit of the Bargain Guidance
BEAD Challenge Process
Tennessee conducted the BEAD Challenge Process in the spring and summer of 2024. Please find the BEAD eligibility data and map above.
CostQuest Fabric version 3.2 was used for Tennessee’s Challenge Process and version 4 was used for the true-up.
Please find relevant dates below:
- BDC publication update date used for true-up: 9/17/24
- BDC submission true-up date: 12/31/23
- BDC publication update date used in Challenge Process: 3/5/24
- BDC submission date used in Challenge Process: 6/30/23