{"id":175444,"date":"2025-08-25T22:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T22:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/175444\/"},"modified":"2025-08-25T22:32:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T22:32:09","slug":"arkansas-unveils-1-billion-broadband-plan-for-public-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/175444\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkansas unveils $1 billion broadband plan for public review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Arkansas State Broadband Office has unveiled the state&#8217;s final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, marking a significant step toward achieving universal broadband coverage. <\/p>\n<p>The plan is now open for public review and comment.<\/p>\n<p>Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders emphasized the broader impact of the BEAD Program, stating, &#8220;The BEAD Program is about more than faster internet\u2014it\u2019s about opportunity.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/katv.com\/news\/local\/arkansas-set-to-receive-over-1-billion-for-broadband-boost-a-gamechanger-for-the-state-infrastructure-jobs-act-forty-eight-united-states-little-rock-central-governor-sarah-huckabee-sanders-internet-access-department-commerce-director-glen-howie-farming\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"https:\/\/katv.com\/news\/local\/arkansas-set-to-receive-over-1-billion-for-broadband-boost-a-gamechanger-for-the-state-infrastructure-jobs-act-forty-eight-united-states-little-rock-central-governor-sarah-huckabee-sanders-internet-access-department-commerce-director-glen-howie-farming\" class=\"themeColorForLinks\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arkansas set to receive over $1 billion for broadband boost: a gamechanger for the state<\/a><\/p>\n<p>She added that by connecting every community with high-speed access, the state is providing students with tools for success, entrepreneurs with business growth opportunities, and families with better healthcare access.<\/p>\n<p>According to a release, the $1 billion initiative is the largest public broadband investment in Arkansas history. <\/p>\n<p>The program attracted 730 applications from 33 internet service providers, with 23 providers selected for preliminary awards. <\/p>\n<p>This competitive process secured coverage for over 79,000 homes and businesses at an average cost of $3,891 per location, showcasing Arkansas&#8217; efficiency in the broadband market.<\/p>\n<p>Glen Howie, Director of the Arkansas State Broadband Office, highlighted the program&#8217;s success, noting, &#8220;During the initial application process, 99.9% of all eligible locations in the State received at least one bid, and 99% received bids from two or more internet service providers.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>He added that Arkansas achieved coverage for every location, demonstrating the strength of the market-driven approach.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal includes adjustments required by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration\u2019s BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice, resulting in a $275 million reduction from prior estimates, with the total BEAD Grant Outlay now at $308.3 million.<\/p>\n<p>Once implemented, the program will connect 76% of locations with fiber, 16% with low-Earth-orbit satellite service, 7% with licensed fixed wireless, and 1% with hybrid technologies.<\/p>\n<p>Arkansans are encouraged to review the plan and provide feedback by August 29. <\/p>\n<p>Supporting documents and a public comment form are available on the Arkansas BEAD Webpage. <\/p>\n<p>The proposal is set to be submitted to the NTIA by September 4, with construction expected to begin in the first half of 2026, pending approvals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Arkansas State Broadband Office has unveiled the state&#8217;s final proposal for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":175445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[99782,5027,99779,716,21591,99781,712,27907,99780,158,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-175444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-1-billion","9":"tag-arkansas","10":"tag-bead-program","11":"tag-broadband","12":"tag-coverage","13":"tag-high-speed-access","14":"tag-internet","15":"tag-internet-service-providers","16":"tag-public-review","17":"tag-technology","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115091783198333011","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}