BEAD Introduction

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) program was created through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ”IIJA”), Pub. L. 117-58, 135 Stat. 429, and is administered by the United States Department of Commerce’s (DOC) National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”). This program makes available to DC $100,694,786.93 for projects and activities related to broadband planning, infrastructure deployment, and mapping, which will enable the DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (“OCTO”) and its DC State Broadband Office (“SBO”) to execute its vision for transformative and sustainable investments to close the digital divide.

Access to, and adoption of, reliable broadband is essential to full participation in the community and economy. A reliable broadband connection enables work, learning, healthcare, and more access to government services. In the District of Columbia, the need for broadband infrastructure investment is reflected in the unserved and underserved areas of the district confirmed through DC’s BEAD Challenge process, and subsequent FCC fabric updates, as applicable. OCTO/SBO proposes to address this need by coordinating resources from the BEAD grant to effect transformative, sustainable, and achievable improvements in DC’s unserved and underserved locations. In addition to the guidance outlined herein, OCTO SBO will comply with the BEAD Notice of Funding Opportunity, BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice (dated June 6, 2025), the BEAD Initial Proposal Volume I & II, the BEAD Initial Proposal Correction Notice,  BEAD Deployment Grant Program Application Guidelines, and any subsequent guidelines issued by the NTIA, as applicable. OCTO/SBO reserves the right to modify or update this document at its discretion to implement Federal, State, or Local requirements, or for any other reason necessary to effectively administer the BEAD Program.

Purpose of Grant

DC’s BEAD funding will be used to support infrastructure/deployment efforts according to BEAD program requirements, specifically within the BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice dated June 6, 2025 (“Restructuring” or “Restructuring Notice” and the Benefit of the Bargain Round guidance.

Through the implementation of DC’s BEAD program, OCTO/SBO will conduct an open, fair, and transparent additional subgrantee selection round or Benefit of the Bargain Round to obtain bids to provide high-speed broadband internet access to all unserved and underserved locations throughout DC.

The updated guidance removes and redefines various requirements of the BEAD program, requiring at least one additional subgrantee selection round and updated scoring to achieve “Minimal BEAD Program Outlay,” which is defined as “the combination of project proposals with the lowest overall cost to the Program.” Accordingly, this may involve selecting a proposal that is not the lowest-cost option for a given set of broadband serviceable locations (BSLs) but is part of the combination of selected projects with the overall cost to the Program. Questions on the application of this requirement can be directed to OCTO/SBO and may also be answered by the updated BEAD Frequently Asked Questions published by NTIA and located here: BEAD: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers Version 10.

Wherever possible and allowable under the Restructuring Notice, OCTO/SBO will repurpose any previously provided documentation from pre-qualified applicants.

Competition for a Grant

This RFA is competitive. Each Applicant must demonstrate its ability to carry out the activities for the grant for which it applies (called a “project”). A review panel will evaluate the applications for each advertised grant according to the stated list of criteria in each project’s description

 An award will be made based on eligibility (Section 1.5), the extent to which the proposed project fits within the scope and available funding of the grant, strength of the application, and the organization’s capacity to achieve the grant’s goals, and the organization’s application scoring.

Each Applicant may submit more than one application with different projects. If an Applicant responds with more than one project, it must do so in a separate proposal and submit all corresponding required documents.

Resources

Applicants are encouraged to review both federal and local guidance. Below are several key resources that may be useful for prospective applicants. 

• SBO Deployment Page
• NTIA BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice
• BABA Compliance and Self Certification
• DC Project Areas Map
• DC Project Areas Boundary File
• Eligible CAIs List 
• Approved Unserved Locations
• Approved Underserved Locations

Office Contact information

Email us at octo.grants@dc.gov
 

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CPF Application

The objective of this CPF Broadband Infrastructure Project is the creation of a new government owned and operated middle mile and last mile broadband infrastructure capital assets in Ward 5 (“OCTO Project Property”), as well as the creation of new privately owned and operated middle mile and last mile capital assets in Ward 5, which will be made subject to permanent affordability and performance standards (“Grantee Project Property”). The operation of these new capital assets will directly enable greater access to work, education, and health-monitoring within the proposed geographic area for the life of the assets. 

Through this CPF program, OCTO proposes to purchase and provide for the installation of physical broadband infrastructure including conduit and fiber in public rights of way, and to purchase and install network equipment in one or more community anchor institutions (“CAI”) in Ward 5. This will enable DCNet to provide a 10 Gbps symmetrical connection between the Trinidad Recreation Center in Ward 5 and the backbone of the global internet through DC’s open-access Internet Exchange Point (“IXP”). Additionally, this will enable DCNet to provide wholesale fiber backhaul and middle mile service to Ward 5 retail internet providers who commit to DC’s performance and affordability standards, and who offer fiber to the premises, fixed location wireless, or mobile wireless plans to Ward 5 residents.

The CPF Program will result in: 

• New retail last mile fiber to the premises, fixed location wireless, and mobile wireless offerings available in Ward 5, and subject to performance and affordability standards, including a requirement to offer a reduced cost residential broadband internet service plan (Low Cost Plan); 
• Greatly improved DCNet last mile service to one or more CAIs in Ward 5, free of existing contractually      imposed prohibitions on providing service to residents, businesses, and national non-profits; 
• New DC-owned and operated middle mile fiber and conduit, which will be used to drive affordability, reliability, product variety, and network resilience, and create an ongoing project income stream which can be used to further expand DCNet fiber and conduit infrastructure throughout the City; and, 
• New privately owned and operated middle mile fiber and conduit, subject to performance and affordability standards, including a requirement to offer a reduced cost broadband internet access service to eligible households. 

Overview of Subgrantee Selection Process

This is a competitive grant. The review panel for the RFA will be composed of individuals with knowledge in the areas directly related to the RFA. The review panel will review, score and rank each Applicant’s application.

The panel will recommend the most responsive application for an award of the grant.

Review panels vary in size but typically are made up of three to five people. Review panel members can be from OCTO staff or outside of OCTO, as long as they do not have a conflict of interest. 

Resources

1. CPF Map Ward 5 Map: https://www.techtogetherdc.com/_files/ugd/9d0000_82542fe692b5409a966e9e328437cc15.pdf.      
   

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