The BEAD program includes $42 billion for high-speed Internet access. This federal grant program, funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act goal is to provide universal internet by funding partnerships between states or territories, communities, and stakeholders to build infrastructure where needed to and increase adoption of high-speed internet. BEAD prioritizes unserved locations that have no internet access or that only have access under 25/3 Mbps and underserved locations only have access under 100/20 Mbps.
The National Telecommunication Information and Administration allocated $451 million dollars in Kansas to address the digital divide. The Broadband Equity Access and Deployment 5–Year Action Plan along with Volume 1 and Volume 2 have identified served, unserved, and underserved locations across the state. The 5-Year Action Plan addresses the “what” KOBD will be doing, and Volume 1 and Volume 2 address the “how” it will happen and how KOBD will address the digital divide.
KOBD opened the BEAD application subgrantee selection process on October 21 and will now close the portal at noon on December 20th. Applicants must complete registration prior to beginning the application process. Access the portal here.
Join KOBD and team as we open our virtual offices for questions to assist with the BEAD technical application. This will be an open opportunity to bring your questions and engage with the office. Register for the Office Hours here and review recordings via the dropdown menu below.
Registrants are encouraged to use this guide to pre-register via the portal.
These forms must be used by registrants for required files that will be uploaded as part of the registration. Please refer to the Guide for instructions on filling out and renaming these files.
Registration curing requests will come from a Salesforce automated email address of “KDC SF NoReply <[email protected]>”. Emails will go to the Lead Project and Lead Technical Project contacts. If you have a question regarding your curing request, do not reply to that email. Email questions to the [email protected]v inbox and a team member will respond to you.
To maximize time for eligible applicants to participate in the BEAD subgrant selection process, KOBD will accept submitted registrations as sufficient to allow applicants to access the BEAD technical application portal. Please note, this does NOT suggest your registration has been accepted as being satisfactory. All applicants must have a successful registration to allow for their submitted technical application to be reviewed by KOBD. Unsuccessful registrations will result in it being returned for curing and technical applications submitted by the applicant cannot be reviewed until all registration curing has been satisfied.
Our Salesforce portal is limited to one unique user working within the Salesforce application. However, our Salesforce team has suggested the following workaround to allow multiple people to collaborate.
To collaborate on your BEAD registration and/or technical application simultaneously, you must be willing to share your login credentials for Salesforce with other people. Once you’ve shared your login information with one or more people, all of you may begin working on separate sections of the same application.
PLEASE NOTE: This workaround will not work if two or more people are attempting to work in the same section of the application. The solution only works if each contributor is working in different sections. Each person working on their specific section must save their progress to ensure that Salesforce registers the entries into the portal. To confirm that the progress of others is within the system, please refresh the page after you save your work (if that does not work, logging out and logging back in should reflect all the latest saved progress).
KOBD is sharing an important update regarding Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) that will be excluded from Kansas’ final BEAD proposal based on Version 5 of the FCC/BDC data (see NTIA Guidance V1.2 page 89 (reason code 3).
The BSLs_not_in_V5 file, lists locations from the published post-challenge BSL list (Final_Approved_Kansas_Locations_09_26_24: the official list of BSLs and their classifications as approved by NTIA) that have either been removed or reclassified as non-BSL or non-mass-market locations in Version 5 of the FCC/BDC data.
This determination was made based on the absence of matching Location IDs. Additionally, KOBD is providing a summary document, BSLs_not_in_V5_PFA_Summary, which details the number of these Version 5 “no-shows” within each Project Funding Area (PFA).
Please reference both documents and ensure these BSLs are classified as “will not serve” in your application as you develop your proposals.
In the event that your submitted application includes BSLs that are not in V5 and there is intent to serve them, KOBD retains the right to engage in negotiation post-application window closing regarding the removal of these locations.
Our Salesforce portal is limited to one unique user working within the Salesforce application. However, our Salesforce team has suggested the following workaround to allow multiple people to collaborate.
To collaborate on your BEAD registration and/or technical application simultaneously, you must be willing to share your login credentials for Salesforce with other people. Once you’ve shared your login information with one or more people, all of you may begin working on separate sections of the same application.
PLEASE NOTE: This workaround will not work if two or more people are attempting to work in the same section of the application. The solution only works if each contributor is working in different sections. Each person working on their specific section must save their progress to ensure that Salesforce registers the entries into the portal. To confirm that the progress of others is within the system, please refresh the page after you save your work (if that does not work, logging out and logging back in should reflect all the latest saved progress).
9/30/2024 locations published.
Please find the final project funding area files for eligible Kansas BSLs below.
Location status: 0=unserved/eligible, 1=underserved/eligible, 2=served/funded/ineligible.
*Please note files with an *asterisk* will not open in Excel completely. Will require other software.
Interested applicants were required to complete registration but allowed to address any outstanding issues (curing) before starting their technical application.
Following a thorough review by the KOBD team, all applicants received notifications on their pre-qualification status, indicating whether their submission was approved, returned for curing, or disqualified. The following organizations successfully registered to participate in the BEAD program.
In accordance with NTIA’s BEAD NOFO requirements, KOBD has updated internal communication policies to establish a ‘Quiet Period’ until the end of KOBD’s subgrantee selection process to comply with the BEAD NOFO.
Entities eligible to apply for BEAD such as internet service providers, municipalities, etc. with questions about BEAD programmatically including but not limited to verbal or electronic communications such as text, voice calls, emails, etc. will not be responded to unless they are emailed directly to [email protected] or brought up during a public BEAD office hour hosted by KOBD.
When emailing [email protected], eligible entities can expect a response to appear on KOBD’s website, www.kansascommerce.gov/bead as a new FAQ response under Resources if one does not already exist.
Questions posed during a public BEAD office hour hosted by KOBD can be directly responded to by KOBD staff during the office hour and responses will be posted on KOBD’s website as a new FAQ response if one does not already exist. No communications will be sent out with a direct response to a question either from KOBD staff or the [email protected] email address.
Please refer to the BEAD NOFO (page 35):
7. Subgrantee Selection Process
a. General Principles Governing Subgrantee Selection
i. Protecting the Integrity of the Selection Process
In establishing a fair, open, equitable, and competitive selection process, each Eligible Entity must ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect the integrity of the competition, including safeguards against collusion, bias, conflicts of interest, arbitrary decisions, and other factors that could undermine confidence in the process.
NTIA defined “high cost” using a cost model that incorporates an area’s remoteness, population density, topography, and poverty levels, and measures costs over the life of the network. NTIA defined “area” to mean census block groups. View NTIA Website here.
Local and Tribal Coordination
Approved V2 indicates that evidence must consist of meeting minutes, attendee lists and discussion items like those contained in the NTIA Local Coordination Tracker. Below is a link to the NTIA website that houses the Local Coordination Tracking Tool.
KOBD is still accepting NDAs. An NDA has been provided from KOBD. Access it here. KOBD is not able to accept redlines.
KOBD continues to engage with industry and broadband partners via the Industry Roundtables.
The upcoming dates are November 26 and December 12. The 2024 Industry Roundtables will be every other Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Roundtables intend to provide a space to discuss and share updates from the Office of Broadband. Additionally, NTIA Federal Program Officer Melinda Stanley will occasionally be on to clarify program questions.
To submit questions in advance or be added to the Industry Roundtable distribution list, please email Shelley Paasch.
Industry Roundtable Records are linked below:
KOBD is sharing an important update regarding Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) that will be excluded from Kansas’ final BEAD proposal based on Version 5 of the FCC/BDC data (see NTIA Guidance V1.2 page 89 (reason code 3).
The BSLs_not_in_V5 file, lists locations from the published post-challenge BSL list (Final_Approved_Kansas_Locations_09_26_24: the official list of BSLs and their classifications as approved by NTIA) that have either been removed or reclassified as non-BSL or non-mass-market locations in Version 5 of the FCC/BDC data.
This determination was made based on the absence of matching Location IDs. Additionally, KOBD is providing a summary document, BSLs_not_in_V5_PFA_Summary, which details the number of these Version 5 “no-shows” within each Project Funding Area (PFA).
Please reference both documents and ensure these BSLs are classified as “will not serve” in your application as you develop your proposals.
In the event that your submitted application includes BSLs that are not in V5 and there is intent to serve them, KOBD retains the right to engage in negotiation post-application window closing regarding the removal of these locations.
To report suspected fraud, waste or abuse contact the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations.
For more information, please visit the Office of Inspector General with the Department of Commerce here.
Based on Initial Proposal Volume 1 Transparency Plan (page 15), KOBD will post publicly all submitted challenges and rebuttals publicly before final challenge determinations are made, with the following information:
KOBD will not publicly post any personally identifiable information (PII) or proprietary information, including subscriber names, street addresses or customer IP addresses. To ensure all PII is protected, KOBD will remove any PII from all challenges and rebuttals prior to posting. Also, guidance will be provided to all challengers on which information may be posted publicly. The following list encompasses all Challenges submitted, but not all submitted Challenges listed were approved to go to Rebuttal. Please find all submitted challenges available for download here.
KOBD received approval from the NTIA on our Initial Proposal Volume 1 and continues to move through the challenge process.
The official Challenge Process ran from NOON CT on Friday, December 15 until Sunday, January 14 at 5:00 p.m. CT.
The Four Phases of the Challenge Process:
Eligible Challenging Entities include:
Location Info:
Post Deduplication Process: KOBD will use the NTIA Toolkit and deduplicate our current state grant programs, LINC, BAG 3.0, and the federal Enhanced Alternative Connect America Cost Model (EACAM), that may be awarded and/or contracted during the Challenge Process. Enforceable Commitment Challenges for these program locations are not necessary.
License Reminder: Licenses are required when using the pre-populated templates of locational information from the challenge portal and will support submitting a challenge on many locations at once.
Eligible challenging entities (tribal/local government, nonprofits and internet service providers) can apply for licenses from CostQuest, at no cost. Learn more from this NTIA webpage here.
The official challenge process was outlined in Volume 1 of the Initial Proposal and required the process be transparent, evidence based and expedient.
| Challenge Process Overview | Volume 1 -Full Document |
| Acceptable Evidence | NTIA Document |
| Data Licenses | NTIA Webpage on CostQuest Licensing |
| Challenge Portal Guidelines | KOBD Challenge Portal Guideline Document |
| Challenge Portal – Website | Challenge Portal – Website |
Below you will find links to webinars KOBD hosted along with information on upcoming webinars.
“My administration is committed to ensuring every Kansan, regardless of their zip code, has access to fast and
Governor Laura Kelly
reliable internet connectivity, bringing additional economic growth, educational opportunities, and telehealth
services. This funding advances our progress toward being a top 10 state for broadband access by 2030.”
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