Unpacking Approved BEAD Volume 2s: Nebraska

NTIA recently approved Nebraska’s Initial Proposal Volume 2. The ACLP compared the final version with the version submitted by the state to NTIA for review last year. A redlined comparison is available here. The following changes were evident:

Subgrantee Selection Process

Pre-Qualification

The state will still use a pre-qualification process, but it renamed this phase the Organizational Application process (previously, this phase revolved around a Letter of Intent). The required elements of this phase, however, remain largely unchanged.

Scoring – Minimal BEAD Outlay

The state increased the number of points available in this category to 180 from 120. Award of these points will still be on a sliding scale relative to the lowest costs and highest match. Significantly more weight has been placed on the match percentage, with upwards of 150pts available to matches of at least 85%.

Scoring – Affordability

The state reduced the number of points in this category from 135 to 75 and will still use the $80/month for 1/1 Gbps as the scoring benchmark. The state eliminated points for the length of the affordable commitment in this category and shifted them to the secondary criteria.

Scoring – Fair Labor Standards

The state clarified that the 45pts available will be awarded across 5 sub-categories. It eliminated a sub-category focused on wages.

Secondary Criteria

The state made several adjustments to these criteria, including:

• Technical Capabilities – reduced the number of points from 30 to 20. These points will now be awarded across 4 sub-categories rather than 5 (speed of network was eliminated).
• Local and Tribal Coordination – increased the number of points from 20 to 30. Up to 15pts will be available for both community engagement and support letters.
• Eliminated the Life of Assets category and reallocated the 10pts from there to a new category for Length of Affordable Commitment. Points will be awarded on a sliding scale, with max points to those committing to the affordable gig price-point for at least 5 years.

Sufficiency of Funds

It appears that the state is slightly more confident that it will have enough BEAD funding to address all unserved and underserved locations with a mix of fiber and wireless (CAI are TBD). The approved V2 notes that there are 33,838 un/underserved BSL in the state; in its submitted V2, it stated that there were 104,000 un/underserved BSL.

Climate Assessment

The state will no longer require applicants to answer questions regarding the “specific climate risks prevalent in the state of Nebraska and the areas in which the ISP proposes to build.” These questions, teed up in the submitted V2 on p. 106, spanned 8 topics from backup power to network hardening and disaster recovery. Now, applicants will only be required to submit “a network restoration plan for severe storms including flooding, tornadoes, ice storms, and wildfire.”

Low-Cost Option

The state has set its low-cost plan price-point at $70/month. The broad eligibility parameters set forth by the state in previous drafts appear to remain the same.