Montana First State to Receive Federal Broadband Funding Approval

HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte announced today that the State of Montana is one of the first of 18 states in the nation to receive approval from the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on its final proposal to deliver universal broadband access through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

“Expanding access to reliable, high-speed broadband and bridging the digital divide has been a top priority in Montana,” Gov. Gianforte said. “Since this historic funding became available, my administration has been dedicated to making sure Montana remains a leader to secure the resources we need to deploy broadband services to Montanans in unserved and underserved areas.”

With today’s approval, Montana was awarded over $300 million to fund grants for 19 service providers and 32 projects to serve over 68,000 unserved and underserved Broadband Serviceable Locations. The locations are in addition to over 180 community anchor institutions such as health service offices, high schools, police departments, fire departments, and libraries.

“Since Governor Gianforte tasked the Montana Broadband Office with bridging the digital divide for all Montanans in 2021, we have not stopped working to ensure Montana would be ready to move forward as we navigated federal regulations to get green lights. We were proud that Montana was the first state to open its BEAD application portal back on August 13, 2024, and are thrilled to again be one of the first states to receive NTIA approval to deploy BEAD funding,” said Department of Administration Director Misty Ann Giles. “This long but critical process to connect our unserved and underserved Montanans has been worth it, and we are excited to get to work.”

In June, NTIA issued the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice and instituted the Benefit of the Bargain reforms, which removed extralegal regulatory burdens and implemented critical reforms to lower costs, speed up deployment, and ensure all technology solutions were considered.

“We are delivering the Benefit of the Bargain through the BEAD program that best serves the interests of the American people,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “After stripping away burdensome rules and regulations and wasteful requirements, taxpayers will save billions in unnecessary costs while connecting those in need to high-speed broadband through the full spectrum of broadband technologies.”

Expanding access to reliable broadband is a central element of Gov. Gianforte’s Montana Comeback Plan.

When NTIA announced the BEAD program in 2022, Gov. Gianforte was one of the first governors in the nation to issue a letter of intent to apply for the planning grant, allowing the Department of Administration to move quickly and apply to secure the resources necessary to deliver broadband to Montanans in unserved and underserved communities.

More information on the NTIA announcement can be read here.