BEAD by State: What Fiber Contractors Need to Know in Each Market

ByGil Ramirez
PublishedSeptember 8, 2026
Read TimeReference

BEAD is one federal program, but it lands as fifty different construction markets, each with its own broadband office, its own awardees, its own pole and permitting fights, and its own timing. This page is the map of everything we have covered, by state, so you can read only the market you actually send crews into.

Start with the guide if you have not: How to get BEAD subcontract work covers the lists, the rules as they stand after NTIA's 2025 changes, and the paperwork that follows you onto the job. Then find your state below.

By State

States where we have covered awards, freezes, disputes, or specific ISP builds. The newest piece is first in each state.

Arkansas

Illinois

Louisiana

Maryland

Michigan

Montana

Nebraska

New Mexico

Ohio

Texas

Virginia

Program-Wide

Coverage that applies to every state: NTIA guidance, deadlines, pole attachment costs, permitting, and the carriers and manufacturers building the pipeline.

Not Seeing Your State?

Every state's final proposal is approved, so every state has a market forming. We cover a state when something changes for the crews in it: an award, a freeze, a pole or permit dispute, a large ISP build. If yours is not here yet, the subcontractor guide still applies, and your state broadband office's BEAD page is the source for awardees and any contractor directory.

About the author

Gil Ramirez founded Telecom Contractor Solutions in Houston. He works inside the back office of fiber and telecom contractors running 10 to 100 field techs, on the gap between the field and the invoice.

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