Public Comment Period for Broadband Initial Proposal – CLOSED
NOTE: The public comment period on the State’s BEAD Intital Proposal ended on November 10th has officially closed.
The Idaho Broadband Advisory Board and Idaho Office of Broadband have opened a public comment period on the State’s Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program, Initial Proposal (Volumes I and II) for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
The State has been working to identify Idaho’s internet needs, challenges and opportunities to develop internet expansion plans. The work is reflected in the State’s draft BEAD Initial Proposal. Volume I establishes the groundwork for the State’s strategy to bring internet to all and identify project areas and locations of interest. Volume II details the plans for distributing deployment funding, workforce and economic development initiatives, tribal coordination and more.
The BEAD Initial Proposal is now posted online for review and comment: Volume 1 here and Volume 2 here. A Spanish translation of Volume 1 can be found here. The Idaho Office of Broadband will accept comments submitted to BroadbandComments@Commerce.Idaho.gov from September 29 through November 10. You can learn more on how to submit a public comment here.
Los documentos “BEAD Initial Proposal” ya están disponible para revisión y comentarios públicos: El Volumen 1 (aquí) y el Volumen 2 (aquí). Puede encontrar el Volumen 1 traducido al Español aquí. La Oficina de Broadband de Idaho aceptara comentarios enviados al correo electrónico BroadbandComments@commerce.idaho.gov desde el 29 de septiembre hasta el 10 de noviembre. Conozca como someter un comentario publico aquí.
For those who don’t have internet but are interested in submitting comments, copies of the BEAD Initial Proposal, and computers to provide comments, may be available at a public library near you.
Comments can also be submitted via mail or phone at:
Idaho Department of Commerce
700 W. State St., Boise, Idaho 83720
208-334-2470
For consideration, all comments must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. MT, Friday, November 10, 2023.
The BEAD program is designed to connect the most rural parts of America and in doing so, Idaho will now have a historic opportunity to dramatically improve the existing infrastructure in a way that will allow rural Idahoans to experience the benefits of fast, reliable internet when it comes to telehealth, tele-education and telework.
To learn more about broadband expansion in Idaho or for more on public engagement activities surrounding the effort, visit LinkUp.Idaho.gov.
If you would like to spread the word about this comment period, you can find a communication toolkit here and a flyer here.
View the Idaho Broadband Advisory Board members here.
For more information visit https://linkup.idaho.gov/ and https://commerce.idaho.gov/broadband/.
Learn more about the BEAD program here.
For questions, contact State Broadband Program Manager Ramón S. Hobdey-Sánchez.
Please note: Spanish language documents will be available in 3 weeks. Please send us a comment with your email address and we will send you a notice when they are available. Available documents are listed below.
Atencion: Los documentos traducidos en Español estarán disponible en aproximadamente 3 semanas. Por favor envíenos un mensaje con su correo electrónico y nosotros le notificaremos cuando los mismos estén disponible.
Los documentos disponibles se enumeran a continuación: