BEAD/BABA Rundown: Deployment Moves
Michigan Moves BEAD Into Construction
Michigan is moving its BEAD program into deployment.
The Michigan High-Speed Internet Office’s latest timeline marks August as the beginning of BEAD construction in the state.
Michigan received $1.5 billion through the federal program, the fourth-highest state allocation in the country. MIHI says Michigan has BEAD-eligible locations in all 83 counties, with the program intended to reach nearly every unserved and underserved home and business in the state.
Based on FCC data, the state estimates approximately 370,000 homes and businesses are currently unserved, and another 125,000 are underserved.
With Michigan’s Final Proposal approved, the state has published its subgrant agreement, monitoring plan, reporting requirements and permitting resources to help providers move their projects forward.
Michigan expects BEAD construction to continue through 2030, while low-Earth-orbit satellite service is expected to continue through 2040.
Virginia Targets Its Final Unserved Locations
In Virginia, NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth visited Bedford County on August 25 for an event at Supervisor Edgar Tuck’s farm in Moneta.
County officials say earlier broadband projects have brought high-speed access to around 15,000 previously unserved or underserved addresses. The county says BEAD could help cover the final 1,600 unserved addresses.
The event highlighted the impact of BEAD funding in rural communities. Roth said officials toured fiber and satellite BEAD projects and saw deployment underway.
Virginia has $1.48 billion in BEAD funding statewide. NTIA approved the Commonwealth’s Final Proposal in November 2025, and the state is now advancing awards, contracting and deployment.
GAO Flags Long-Term BEAD Oversight
The Government Accountability Office released a report on August 31 reviewing nine federal broadband deployment programs.
For BEAD, GAO examined the financial sustainability of networks built in high-cost areas.
The agency says BEAD providers must certify that they will not accept federal funding from other sources for deployment and operations costs at BEAD-funded locations for at least 10 years.
GAO says providers report performance information during the four-year deployment period, but NTIA has not detailed when states should request additional performance or financial information after deployment during the 10-year federal-interest period.
GAO recommends that NTIA give states and territories more information on when and why to make those requests. The goal is to help identify financial problems that could eventually lead to service disruptions.
NTIA agreed with the recommendation.
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Hayden BeesonHayden Beeson
Editor, ISE Magazine
Hayden Beeson is the editor of ISE Magazine at EndeavorB2B. He previously held editorial roles with Lightwave, Broadband Technology Report, LEDs Magazine and Architectural SSL.
Justine Murphy
Justine Murphy is the multimedia director for Endeavor Business Media's Digital Infrastructure Group. She is a multiple award-winning writer and editor with more 20 years of experience in newspaper publishing as well as public relations, marketing, and communications. For nearly 10 years, she has covered all facets of the optics and photonics industry as an editor, writer, web news anchor, and podcast host for an internationally reaching magazine publishing company. Her work has earned accolades from the New England Press Association as well as the SIIA/Jesse H. Neal Awards. She received a B.A. from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.