Between November 2025 and March 2026, federal officials approved plans from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama to spend their shares of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, the $42.45 billion federal effort to bring high-speed internet to places without it. For rural businesses still relying on slow DSL or spotty wireless, it is the clearest sign yet that better service is coming.
The rules changed in 2025
In June 2025 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice that required states to redo their plans. Light Reading reported that the new rules replaced BEAD's former preference for fiber with a preference for the lowest-cost bids, and added about a year of delays.
Louisiana
On November 18, 2025, Gov. Jeff Landry's office announced that Louisiana was the first state to receive federal approval for its $1.355 billion BEAD plan. The plan aims to reach about 130,000 unserved and underserved locations through 14 internet providers, with nearly 70% of awards going to Louisiana-based companies. Light Reading reported that about $499 million of the revised plan goes to building networks, with 80% going to fiber.
"With this approval, we can shift from planning to putting shovels in the ground in the next several weeks," said ConnectLA director Veneeth Iyengar.
BEAD builds on Louisiana's earlier GUMBO grants. In July 2022 the state awarded about $130 million in American Rescue Plan funds to projects in 50 parishes covering more than 66,000 households and small businesses, Telecompetitor reported.
Mississippi
NTIA approved Mississippi's final proposal on February 9, 2026. The plan uses $508 million in BEAD funds plus $321 million from 12 participating providers to reach 93,283 residences, according to Sen. Roger Wicker's office and Gov. Tate Reeves. The state's broadband office, BEAM, publishes an address-level map of funded locations.
Alabama
Gov. Kay Ivey announced approval of Alabama's plan on March 23, 2026. It awards nearly $460 million to 16 providers to reach about 92,000 unserved locations. Seventy-one percent of projects will use fiber, 24% low-Earth orbit satellite and 5% hybrid fiber-coaxial cable. The state says it averaged less than $5,000 per location and saved more than $800 million from its original $1.4 billion allocation.
Awards on the coast include $30.60 million to Comcast for 5,295 locations in Mobile County and $29.83 million to Zitel for 9,984 locations in Baldwin County.
What it means for businesses
Approval is not the same as service. None of the three announcements gives a completion date, and construction will roll out over time. Not every location will get fiber either. In Alabama, about a quarter of projects rely on satellite.
When faster service does arrive, it makes cloud backup, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace and video meetings far more practical for rural offices.
What to do
- Look up your business address on your state's broadband map, or ask your state broadband office whether it falls in a funded area.
- If it does, contact the provider that won the award and ask about timing and business service options.
- Plan which systems you would move to the cloud once you have a reliable connection, starting with email and backups.
- Keep a backup internet connection for critical work, since new builds take time.
When a faster connection reaches your area, WITTCO can help you put it to use with cloud backups, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and cloud services on AWS or Google Cloud.
Sources
- Office of Governor Jeff Landry, "Louisiana Becomes First State Approved for $1.36 Billion in Federal Broadband Funding" (November 18, 2025): https://gov.louisiana.gov/news/4990
- Light Reading, "2025 in review: The BEAD goes on" (December 19, 2025): https://www.lightreading.com/broadband/2025-in-review-the-bead-goes-on-
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration, "BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice" (June 6, 2025): https://www.ntia.gov/other-publication/2025/bead-restructuring-policy-notice
- Telecompetitor, "Large Carriers Win Big in $130M Louisiana GUMBO Broadband Funding" (July 26, 2022): https://www.telecompetitor.com/large-carriers-win-big-in-130m-louisiana-gumbo-broadband-funding/
- Office of Governor Tate Reeves, "BEAD Final Proposal Approved" (February 10, 2026): https://governorreeves.ms.gov/bead-final-proposal-approved/
- Office of Senator Roger Wicker, "Wicker Celebrates BEAD Deployment Plan Approval" (February 2026): https://www.wicker.senate.gov/2026/2/wicker-celebrates-bead-deployment-plan-approval
- Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi (BEAM), "Final Proposal": https://www.beam.ms.gov/bead/final-proposal
- Office of Governor Kay Ivey, "Governor Ivey Announces Approval of Final BEAD Broadband Proposal, Awards $460 Million to Expand Access to High-Speed Internet" (March 23, 2026): https://governor.alabama.gov/newsroom/2026/03/governor-ivey-announces-approval-of-final-bead-broadband-proposal-awards-460-million-to-expand-access-to-high-speed-internet/
