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:

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.

Subgrantee Selection Map
  • On the map, BSLs that will not be served by BEAD funding are colored gray.
  • In the eligible locations file, these BSLs are indicated as “Yes” under the No BEAD column.
  • The BEAD eligible location file can be downloaded here
  • The BEAD Project Area Units kmz file can be downloaded here

Key Dates

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

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