By August 25, 2026, NTIA had approved every state's BEAD plan. Across the country, about 62.9% of funded locations will get fiber, 21.9% low-orbit satellite, 13.3% fixed wireless and 1.9% cable. To see your own result, open your state's BEAD award map or list (linked from your state guide) and look up your address. Funded wired providers have up to four years from their grant to start service.
What is BEAD, in one minute?
- Who runs it: the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) gave each state a share of $42.45 billion; each state broadband office chose the winning providers.
- Who it's for: homes and small businesses that the FCC map and the state's challenge process showed as lacking reliable broadband.
- What changed in 2025: NTIA's June 2025 rules made the program "technology neutral", dropping the old fiber preference, so states could award locations to fixed wireless and low-orbit satellite as well as fiber. The notice tells states to pick the option "with the lowest cost based on minimal BEAD Program outlay."
- Where it stands: about $18.19 billion is going to construction across all states and territories, according to Broadband Breakfast's tally of the approved plans.
BEAD money goes to states, which give grants to providers to build or upgrade networks. Nobody gets a BEAD check. When service reaches you, you choose whether to sign up and you pay a monthly bill.
What does BEAD mean for your address?
Open your state guide
Pick your state on the states page. Each guide links to that state broadband office's BEAD page and, where one exists, its public award map or list.
Search your address or county on the award map
Most states show funded locations as dots or areas, colored by provider or technology. Some publish a spreadsheet by county instead.
- Awarded BEAD Areas map
- Search your address or town
- Legend: number of providers awarded per area
Open your state broadband office's BEAD awards map (Tennessee shown) and find your county. Screenshot of experience.arcgis.com, November 3, 2026. Read three things: provider, technology, status
Click your location. Note who won it, whether it's fiber, fixed wireless or satellite, and any status or completion date.
- Satellite award: Amazon Kuiper, 79 locations
- Fiber award: AT&T, 359 locations
- Satellite award: SpaceX (Starlink), 12 locations
Zoom in to your area and click it: the box lists who won the BEAD award there, the technology (fiber or satellite) and how many locations it covers. Screenshot of experience.arcgis.com, November 3, 2026. Ask the provider for its schedule
Call the winning provider with your address and ask when construction reaches your road. Co-ops often publish phase maps.
Not on the list?
Your address may already have qualifying service on the FCC map, or it may be in a different program. Check the FCC map and the co-ops in your state guide.
When will it be built?
Federal law says a BEAD-funded provider must build and begin service to every customer who wants it within four years of receiving its subgrant, with limited extensions. So a provider that signed its subgrant in 2026 has until 2030, though many will finish sooner, especially where they're already building nearby. Your state guide shows any build schedule your state has published.
If fiber is funded for your address and the provider expects to reach you within about a year, avoid long contracts and expensive equipment. Use a month-to-month option until it arrives, then compare.
What if your location went to satellite?
Low-orbit satellite providers (SpaceX's Starlink and Amazon's Leo) won about a fifth of BEAD locations nationally, mostly the most remote and costly ones. According to the Benton Institute's reading of NTIA's 2025 rules, a satellite provider funded by BEAD must offer those locations free equipment for the 10-year service period and keep enough network capacity for them. How you sign up as a funded location varies, so ask your state broadband office before you buy equipment yourself.
Satellite awards are being trimmed in 2026
In July 2026 NTIA sent states lists of satellite locations to remove, saying newer FCC map data showed some were sheds or barns rather than homes, or already had wired service. Broadband Breakfast reported states could be asked to remove "as many as half" of their satellite locations. States can challenge removals, and many contracts were still being negotiated, so check your state's latest list.
How to get fiber built to your road
Pre-register with your electric or telephone co-op
Some co-ops build first where the most members sign up. Your state guide lists co-ops building fiber.
Collect your neighbors
A simple sheet of names, addresses and "would subscribe" helps a provider see the demand on your road.
Send it to the right people
The provider or co-op first, then your county and your state broadband office. If your road is private, get the owners' written permission for poles or trenching ready.
Fix the map
If the FCC map wrongly shows your home as served, challenge it. Homes shown as served are skipped by grant programs.
Lower-cost plans
Every BEAD-funded provider must also offer at least one low-cost service option to eligible households. Your state broadband office can tell you who qualifies and how to apply.
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