Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment Program Challenge Process

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $1,055,823,574 to Wisconsin under the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program for broadband infrastructure deployment, with a goal of providing high-speed internet for all (see Internet for All webpage for more information).

Before opening grant applications, Wisconsin will conduct a BEAD Challenge Process to give local and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, and internet service providers the opportunity to challenge whether locations are eligible for BEAD funding, and thereafter provide rebuttals to specific challenges. 

Challenges can include contesting a particular location’s status as unserved (lacking 25/3 Mbps) or underserved (lacking 100/20 Mbps) and thus eligible for funding. Changing a location’s status to unserved or underserved would make it eligible for BEAD funding. Challenges may not remove locations from the map or add new locations not currently shown in the map. When the challenge process is complete and results are approved by the National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA), the PSC will publish the final list and a map of BEAD-eligible locations, prior to the opening of the BEAD competitive grant application window.

• ​BEAD Challenge Map Webinar Slides​
• BEAD Challenge Process Office Hours with UW-Extension and Wisconsin Broadband Office
• ​Register here​ for any of the following sessions: 9:00 AM-10:00 AM on 5/1, 5/9, 5/16, and 5/21
• ​Rebuttal Period Office Hours
• ​Register here for any of the following sessions: 9:00 AM-10:00 AM on 6/6, 6/11, 6/18, and 6/27​

BEAD Chal​lenge Timeline

​For More Information​​