DED’s Office of Broadband Development (OBD) has announced that the first application round for the Missouri Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program is scheduled to open on November 15, 2024.
Round 1 applications will close at 5 p.m. on January 31, 2025. In response to feedback from potential BEAD applicants, OBD requested and received a variance from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to allow a longer window for Round 1 applications than proposed in Missouri’s approved Initial Proposal Volume II.
Round 1 BEAD pre-qualification applications are currently open and will close at 5 p.m. on January 16, 2025. Pre-qualification applications will be available for submission during each scoring round and sub-round until 15 days before the round or sub-round closes.
NTIA must approve OBD’s final list of BEAD-eligible locations before OBD can release a final Application Area Map and open Round 1 of the BEAD program. If approval is not received by November 15, the opening of the round will be delayed.
Notifications of further guidance about Round 1 of the BEAD application process and the publication of Missouri’s BEAD Application Area Map will be posted on OBD’s Connecting All Missourians webpage and sent via email to broadband stakeholders. LEARN MORE…