Press Release: Maine Connectivity Authority Opens Application Process for BEAD Funding

The Pre-Qualification Evaluation is the next step in unlocking $272 million in federal funding allocated to the state of Maine

OCTOBER 1, 2024 – PORTLAND – Maine Connectivity Authority (MCA), the public agency leading statewide broadband expansion and access in Maine, announces that the Pre-Qualification Evaluation phase is now open. This is the next step in accessing Maine’s $272 million state allocation through the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program. Through this, MCA will work with prospective applicants to evaluate their eligibility to apply for funding in later application phases. BEAD funds will be used to expand broadband infrastructure in the hardest-to-reach areas that currently have slow or unreliable access.

“MCA has made significant progress addressing the lack of reliable, affordable high-speed internet in Maine, and the BEAD Program represents the opportunity to reach all unserved locations as deliberately as possible,” said Andrew Butcher, president, Maine Connectivity Authority. “In this stage, we are meeting federal program requirements that require prospective applicants to demonstrate they have the capacity and systems in place to effectively and efficiently manage the construction and operation of BEAD projects.”

Maine’s Pre-Qualification Evaluation application will remain open through October 18, 2024. Eligible applicants include local and Tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, internet service providers, and any other non-traditional providers that can meet the program requirements. MCA will evaluate prospective applicants based on technical, financial, operational, and managerial capacity. As an element of the Pre-Qualification process, MCA has released draft Project Service Areas (PSAs) to prospective applicants and the public using the BEAD Mapping Tool. The methodology and model used to construct the PSAs are based on several data sets that necessitate a continued evolution of the PSAs. The project areas will continue to be refined with public input and based on the location data that NTIA ultimately approves.

“This announcement marks another critical milestone in MCA’s effort to connect everyone in Maine to reliable, affordable high-speed Internet service,” said Brooke Barron, Federal Program Officer for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “Kudos to MCA for developing a comprehensive plan to implement this historic investment.”

The BEAD Program is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the “Internet for All” initiative. Through the BEAD program, $42.5 billion is available to all 56 states and U.S. territories.

Previous state requirements in the BEAD process have included the drafting of a comprehensive 5-Year Broadband Action Plan, the development of two volumes of Initial Proposals that outline the steps MCA will take to administer the grant-making process, and the implementation of the State-Led Challenge Process to determine the locations eligible for BEAD funding. Future program requirements include the implementation of Maine’s Subgrantee Selection Process, negotiations with applicants, and developing a Final Proposal outlining proposed funded projects. The Final Proposal will ultimately need to be approved by NTIA before MCA can begin deployment of these funds.

In the BEAD Project Application opening later this Fall, MCA will evaluate project-specific proposals, with an aggregated list of proposed fundable projects being presented in Maine’s BEAD Final Proposal for NTIA approval. The federal government has designed the implementation of the BEAD Program to take roughly six years from start to finish. To apply or learn more about Maine’s BEAD Program, please click here.

About MCA: As Maine’s public agency leading statewide broadband expansion and digital equity, MCA has a commitment to facilitate equitable statewide expansion of reliable internet for all Maine people; to build on historical progress for continued momentum in this expansion; and to facilitate ‘future-proof’ broadband infrastructure that is technologically sound and financially self-sufficient.

In 2025, MCA will facilitate over $350M of public and private funding to ensure high-speed internet service is available to the final 29,000 locations in Maine through the BEAD Program. By the end of this year, MCA will fulfill a state commitment to offer a connection to the remaining 1% of locations in Maine that have no access to any kind of internet technology. MCA’s $53 million MOOSE Net project will create a 530-mile broadband ‘highway’ to provide middle-mile access to serve as backbone infrastructure for continued expansion and investment.

Since 2022, MCA has facilitated the deployment of over $200 million of federal and state funding to help connect over 86,000 locations in Maine to affordable high-speed internet.

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