DENVER - Today marks an incredible milestone for the people in Colorado who lack internet access. Colorado’s plan for investing $826.5 million from the federal Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program has been approved by the NTIA.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian, NTIA BEAD Program Director Evan Feinman, and CBO Executive Director Brandy Reitter made the announcement on a conference call this morning.
“Colorado is excited to expand reliable, high-speed broadband across our state and this approval of our plans for BEAD funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will accelerate those efforts,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis. “I was pleased to be the first governor in the nation to support this law and I thank the Biden administration for their partnership. We look forward to seeing even more Colorado households get access to the Internet they need to thrive.”
“Colorado is transitioning from extensive planning to taking action to construct and extend broadband networks. The goal is to connect unserved and underserved residents and create networks that offer fast, reliable internet for all Coloradans,” said CBO Executive Director Brandy Reitter.
Colorado's BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 2 outlines the state's workforce development plan, aiming to fill approximately 3,000 job openings required for infrastructure projects and future maintenance. It also provides a plan for stakeholder engagement, affordability and strategies to reduce costs and address other barriers to deploying broadband.
In the next few weeks, CBO, which is managing the BEAD allocation, will release the Project Area Map showing locations eligible to be connected by BEAD funding, as well as the BEAD Grant Program Guidelines for public comment. CBO will begin taking BEAD applications in late summer.
The NTIA required approval of every state’s plan to deploy the funding. Colorado was the 8th state to receive approval. The BEAD program is part of an unprecedented $42.5 billion federal investment in broadband connectivity across the U.S. from the Biden Administration’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Read all of Colorado’s BEAD plans and proposals and public comment summaries.