On one level, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) public notice on paperwork reduction, which was posted today in the Federal Registry, is fairly mundane. On another level, the NTIA’s action is a solid sign that the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program is about to be set in motion again. 

The entry in the Federal Registry notes the opening of a 60-day comment period related to the formation of questions and collection of data mandated by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) as it relates to the NTIA’s digital equity grant program. The program is part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 2021, which was adopted in November, 2021.

The digital equity program aims to advance broadband adoption, digital skills development and access to public connectivity resources. NTIA administers the program.

Eligible entities are Native American Tribes, Alaska Native entities, Native Hawaiian organizations, foundations, qualifying corporations, institutions, non-school not-for-profit entities, anchor institutions, local educational agencies, entities involved in workforce development programs, and others. There can be partnerships among these entities. 

The Federal Register estimates that there will be 800 respondents to the call for comments and that about 18 hours will be spent per comment, which means that there will be an estimated “total annual burden” of 14,400 hours. The estimated total annual cost will be $696,240.

The notice in the Federal Registry said that comments on the NTIA digital equity program must be received by October 26.

The program was paused by the Trump administration in May 2025. In the middle of last month, Judge John D. Beatles of the U.S. District Court of Washington, DC, ruled that the program can and should resume. He found that the act’s original race-based factors were unconstitutional and must be removed.

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On August 25, 2026, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that all 50 states’ and six territories’ Final Proposals for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program have been approved.

“BEAD’s core mission is to ensure universal broadband availability across our country,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth. “With all 56 Final Proposals now approved, we are achieving Congress’s vision of closing the digital divide once and for all.”

In this article, we keep a running list of states and territories whose Final Proposals have been approved by the NTIA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). An asterisk (*) indicates that the state’s final proposal has been approved by the NIST. A caret (^) indicates that the BEAD award agreement has been signed by the state.

This article was last updated Tuesday, August 25, at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time.

The following states’ BEAD Final Proposals have been approved by the NTIA.

• Alabama*^: See provisional awards
• Alaska*^: See provisional awards
• Arizona*^: See provisional awards
• Arkansas*^: See provisional awards
• California: See provisional awards
• Colorado*^: See provisional awards
• Connecticut*^: See provisional awards
• Delaware*^: See provisional awards
• Florida*^: See provisional awards
• Georgia*^: See provisional awards
• Hawaii*^: See provisional awards
• Idaho*^: See provisional awards
• Illinois*: See provisional awards
• Indiana*^: See provisional awards
• Iowa*^: See provisional awards
• Kansas*^: See provisional awards
• Kentucky*^: See provisional awards
• Louisiana*^: See final awards
• Maine*^: See provisional awards
• Maryland*^: See provisional awards
• Massachusetts*^: See provisional awards
• Michigan*^: See provisional awards
• Minnesota*^: See provisional awards
• Mississippi*: See provisional awards
• Missouri*^: See provisional awards
• Montana*^: See provisional awards
• Nebraska*^: See provisional awards
• Nevada*^: See provisional awards
• New Hampshire*^: See provisional awards
• New Jersey*^: See provisional awards
• New Mexico*^: See provisional awards
• New York*^: See provisional awards
• North Carolina*^: See provisional awards
• North Dakota*^: See provisional awards
• Ohio*^: See provisional awards
• Oklahoma*^: See provisional awards
• Oregon*^: See provisional awards
• Pennsylvania*^: See provisional awards
• Rhode Island*^: See provisional awards
• South Carolina*^: See provisional awards
• South Dakota*^: See provisional awards
• Tennessee*^: See provisional awards
• Texas*^: See provisional awards
• Utah*^: See provisional awards
• Vermont*^: See provisional awards
• Virginia*^: See provisional awards
• Washington*^: See provisional awards
• West Virginia*^: See provisional awards
• Wisconsin*^: See provisional awards
• Wyoming*^: See provisional awards

The following territories’ BEAD Final Proposals have been approved by the NTIA. An asterisk (*) indicates that the territory’s final proposal has been approved by NIST. A caret (^) indicates that the BEAD award agreement has been signed by the territory.

• American Samoa*^
• CNMI*^
• Guam*^
• Puerto Rico*^
• U.S. Virgin Islands*^
• Washington, D.C.* (as of March 11, 2026, the NTIA listed Washington D.C.’s final BEAD proposal as approved, but according to an editorial from NTIA Director Arielle Roth, Washington, D.C. will not receive any BEAD deployment funds)

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Customers who qualify for the low-income assist program offered by Charter’s Spectrum brand will now receive Amazon Prime at no additional cost, the company announced today.

The Amazon Prime offer is available immediately for legacy Charter Spectrum customers and will be available soon for qualified legacy Cox customers, though a more precise time frame was not provided.

According to Charter, the average Amazon Prime member saved $550 in delivery costs alone in the last year, typically paying $14.99 per month or $139 per year. Prime members also get free same-day delivery on perishable grocery orders over $25 in most places, and members in more than 2,300 cities and towns can get fresh groceries, alongside electronics, books, pantry staples, snacks, and everyday household items.

 “Our goal at Spectrum is to give customers more value from the services they already count on every day,” Adam Ray, Spectrum executive vice president, chief commercial officer, said in a prepared statement. 

“That value already includes the fastest mobile service at the lowest prices, and our inclusion of programming apps in our video services at no extra charge. And that value now extends to including Prime for low-income customers to help make everyday life a little easier while delivering incredible savings and entertainment — reflecting just a part of our ongoing investment to ensure the communities we serve can thrive.”

The Amazon Prime deal is the next in a line of headline-making Charter promotions. Earlier this year, Charter guaranteed new customers $1,000 in savings their first year if they switch their mobile service from AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon to at least two Unlimited lines of Spectrum Mobile and transfer their internet service from any provider to Spectrum Internet Advantage or a higher speed tier.

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CNET, a consumer technology publication, has released its 2026 rankings of top internet service providers (ISPs), applying a new scoring system that it said removes marketing language and measures value down to the cost of each megabit per second.

The outlet evaluated 31 providers and selected 18 for its recommended list. At 9.5 out of 10, GFiber — formerly known as Google Fiber — earned the highest overall score in the CNET rankings and was named best overall and best value.

CNET said its methodology weighs four components. A value or price index, based on cost per megabit, accounts for 50% of the total. A contractual friction measure — covering data caps, price locks, router opt-out options, and hidden fees — and a price transparency test each account for 20%. Consumer satisfaction, drawn from the publication’s 2026 People’s Picks survey, makes up the remaining 10%.

The transparency test gauged how easily a consumer could locate prices, terms, and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Broadband Facts labels before buying. When a provider lacked enough survey responses, CNET shifted to a 60/20/20 split across the other three categories to calculate its rankings.

The evaluation focused on fiber, 5G, and satellite service and excluded digital subscriber line (DSL) plans, which CNET described as outdated. Providers offering both fiber and 5G, such as AT&T and T-Mobile, were scored separately. 

CNET said it gathered data for its rankings from provider websites, Broadband Facts labels, phone inquiries, and press contacts over roughly two months.

Fiber providers filled most of CNET’s upper rankings. Kinetic Fiber, Uniti’s broadband brand, scored 9.2, while Fidium Fiber and Breezeline each scored 9.1. Quantum Fiber followed at 9.0. 

Among cable operators, Xfinity led at 8.9, and Spectrum received 7.9. TDS Telecom, a fiber provider serving more than 27 states, earned a score of 8.8 and an honorable mention.

For rural markets, CNET named Starlink its best rural provider at 6.7 and pointed to 5G and low Earth orbit satellite service as options that can help close broadband gaps, citing the end of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) and delays in the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, scored at 7.5, was named the best 5G provider.

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CLINTON, N.C. – August 19, 2026 – Star Communications, a leading telecommunications provider serving rural North Carolina, today announced the successful completion of its USDA ReConnect Round One grant-funded fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) expansion project, bringing reliable, high-speed broadband service to underserved communities in Bladen and Sampson counties.

Funded through a $23.7 million ReConnect grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with a $7.9 million investment from Star Communications, the project significantly expanded fiber-optic infrastructure into areas that previously lacked access to affordable, high-quality broadband service.

The project constructed approximately 691 miles of fiber-optic infrastructure and made fiber broadband available to 8,749 households, 19 businesses, 10 educational facilities, and three critical community centers. The new network provides the critical digital infrastructure needed to support economic development, education, healthcare, remote work, and other essential online services throughout the region.

“The completion of this project brings STAR one step closer to achieving 100 percent fiber-to-the-home service throughout our entire service area,” said Donna C. Bullard, Executive Vice President and CEO of Star Communications. “This investment brings the same advanced connectivity and opportunities available in urban communities to our rural neighbors, helping close the digital divide across America. With fiber, there are virtually no limitations on connectivity, and Star Communications remains committed to delivering the most advanced telecommunications services to the communities we proudly serve for many years to come.”

Construction began in the fall of 2020 and was completed on schedule, allowing eligible homes and businesses to take advantage of fast, affordable, and reliable broadband service. Throughout the project, Star Communications worked closely with local leaders, USDA officials, grant administrators, and community partners to ensure the network was built efficiently and designed to meet both current and future broadband demands.

The completion of the ReConnect Round One project represents another major milestone in Star Communications’ long-standing commitment to expanding broadband access and ensuring that rural North Carolina communities have the same opportunities and connectivity as their urban counterparts.

For more information about broadband availability, visit starcom.net or call 800-706-6538.

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Comcast has introduced Xfinity Shield, a home protection platform that uses AI and its Xfinity Gateway to layer cybersecurity, motion detection, and parental controls onto home Wi-Fi. The service became available August 18.

Xfinity Shield comes in two tiers. WiFi Shield is included at no extra charge for Xfinity internet customers who have an Advanced Xfinity Gateway and bundles three features. Xfinity CyberSecure screens the home network for malware, phishing, and hacking attempts. An opt-in tool called WiFi Motion detects indoor movement without cameras by measuring changes in the radio-frequency signal between the gateway and connected devices. A third feature, Family Settings, lets households manage screen time, set device limits, pause access, and build schedules.

The second tier, Xfinity Shield Select, costs $15 per month and adds hardware — including an indoor camera that identifies people, pets, vehicles, and package deliveries — a door and window sensor, cloud video storage, and a function that lets customers request emergency help. Comcast said additional capabilities would arrive in 2027.

The company linked the launch to rising online threats, claiming that the average Xfinity household now connects 36 devices and that Comcast blocks roughly 30 million threats each day.

The rollout of Xfinity Shield arrives as Comcast works to slow customer losses. The company reported losing 167,000 U.S. broadband subscribers in the second quarter, with segment revenue down 5.5% from a year earlier. 

The losses come as it competes with fiber and fixed wireless service from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as satellite service from SpaceX’s Starlink. On a July earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Jason Armstrong said the company expects the market to remain intensely competitive.

The launch of Xfinity Shield also follows Comcast’s agreement to pay $117.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over a 2023 data breach that exposed personal information of millions of current and former Xfinity customers.

Comcast is not the only broadband provider augmenting its security offerings. Optimum recently rolled out a connected-device protection plan for $5 per month. That launch followed survey findings, cited by Optimum, that most consumers would pay more to have their devices and personal information more strongly protected.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — August 20, 2026 — Whether it’s checking a ferry schedule, watching the weather before heading out on the water or traveling for a weekend basketball tournament, Southeast Alaskans rely on connectivity every day. In a region where communities are connected by waterways instead of highways, reliable mobile service helps keep people informed, connected and safe.

That’s why GCI continues investing in its wireless network across Southeast Alaska, including recent upgrades in Craig, Haines, Hydaburg, Kake, Klawock, Klukwan, Metlakatla, Skagway and Thorne Bay. Customers in the upgraded communities now have access to expanded 5G service and increased unlimited talk, text and data coverage.

“When customers use GCI, they should expect the best service Alaska has to offer,” said GCI Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Troy Goldie. “These upgrades strengthen our network throughout Southeast Alaska and help ensure we’re delivering the reliable mobile service that our customers count on every day.”

GCI has turned up 5G service in more than 100 communities across the state in 2026. Since first launching the service in Anchorage in 2020, GCI has expanded 5G to more than 125 communities, covering 83% of Alaskans statewide.

The upgrades are part of GCI’s ongoing efforts to make its mobile network stronger, smarter and more reliable. The upgrades also give GCI’s network teams better visibility into how the network is performing, making it easier to manage and faster to respond to issues and keep customers connected.

“Every investment we make is aimed at creating more direct, high-quality connections to our network,” Goldie said. “That matters in a place like Alaska, where stronger mobile service helps customers stay connected at home, around town, and throughout the state on Alaska’s largest network.”

These upgrades are supported in part by the Universal Service Fund’s Alaska Plan, a program designed to help providers strengthen, expand and maintain telecommunications service in high-cost areas like Alaska.

Over nearly five decades, GCI has invested more than $5 billion to build, operate and continually improve Alaska’s largest telecommunications network. That commitment continues through ongoing investments in the infrastructure, technology and workforce needed to keep Alaska connected and ready for what comes next.

Learn more about GCI mobile service at: https://www.gci.com/mobile.

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As broadband providers evaluate AI investments, many discussions start with the technology itself. In my view, the more important question is whether organizations are prepared to use these tools effectively. Within a few years, most providers will have access to similar AI capabilities, built into the operational and customer systems they already rely on. What will separate the broadband providers that pull ahead is harder to purchase: leadership, culture, governance, and the discipline to execute.

Providers that treat AI as a genuine business transformation tend to see real gains in how they serve subscribers and how efficiently they operate, while those that treat it as a scattering of disconnected experiments rarely move past modest, isolated wins. The deciding factor is whether an organization is built to use the tool well.

That transformation depends on visible commitment from the CEO and the senior team. Leadership sets priorities, allocates resources, and helps ensure AI initiatives remain connected to the business outcomes that matter most to customers and communities.  When broadband leaders continually tie AI directly to business goals, employees stop treating it as a fad and start actively participating.

Leadership alone, of course, is not enough if the organization underneath it stays fragmented. AI is most effective when data and workflows connect across all aspects of a company. However, customer service, network operations, sales, marketing, and finance often work in siloes. For example, consider predictive maintenance: Getting genuine value from it usually means pairing live network data with a clear view of how equipment failures affect subscribers and the bottom line. No single department owns that outcome, which is often the problem.

The same logic explains why isolated AI-related pilot projects are often disappointing. Experiments are easy to launch and easy to abandon. Broadband providers need a clear plan that prioritizes opportunities with the greatest operational and customer impact while ensuring investments are aligned with long-term business goals. A vital question for providers is, “Where can AI carry out the goals we care about most?” A roadmap keeps individual projects pointed at a shared destination.

A roadmap changes how success is measured. The temptation is to count deployments and proofs of concept, but those are inputs rather than results. The measures that should matter to broadband providers are business outcomes: lower operating costs, higher subscriber satisfaction, revenue growth, more productive employees, better service quality, and faster decisions. The number of tools in production says very little. The value those tools create for subscribers and the business speaks for itself.

For a broadband provider, becoming an AI-powered company starts with building an organization capable of using these tools effectively and responsibly. The technology is becoming increasingly accessible to everyone. The real differentiator will be whether providers can translate those capabilities into better service, stronger networks, more efficient operations, and greater value for the customers and communities they serve.

Jason Dandridge, CEO

Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative

Jason Dandridge is CEO of Palmetto Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC) and Communications Data Group (CDG), bringing nearly three decades of telecommunications leadership experience. He joined PRTC in 1997 and became CEO in 2008. He leads efforts focused on broadband expansion, innovation, customer success, and advanced OSS/BSS and billing solutions for rural telecommunications providers.

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A task force of former regulators and industry, education, and healthcare leaders recently released a framework urging Congress to modernize the Universal Service Fund (USF) while preserving the funding structure that has supported it for nearly three decades. The report is titled, “Moving Toward Opportunity for All: The Future of Universal Service Reform.”

The group was convened by Keep Our Communities Connected and the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition, and co-chaired by former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Rachelle Chong.

The task force’s recommendations were directed at the Congressional USF Working Group. The roughly $8 billion fund is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) under FCC oversight and supports four programs: High-Cost, Lifeline, E-Rate, and Rural Health Care.

The framework laid out six guiding principles. Preserving the USF’s non-appropriated structure — which relies on mandatory industry contributions rather than annual appropriations — was central among the task force’s recommendations. The task force said this approach insulates connectivity funding from budget standoffs and government shutdowns.

To illustrate the risk of the alternative, the report pointed to the expiration of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). Funded through a one-time appropriation in the 2021 infrastructure law, the $14.2 billion program connected more than 23 million low-income households before it ran out of money. The task force recommended that any targeted appropriations supplement, rather than replace, the USF’s permanent baseline.

Other principles addressed legal durability, affordability, program administration, and future network needs. The task force’s report noted that the 2025 Supreme Court ruling in FCC v. Consumers’ Research strengthened the USF’s legal footing, though it acknowledged continued litigation in the 5th Circuit. Participants said Congress could reinforce the FCC’s authority and clarify the statutory framework without limiting the Commission’s flexibility.

On affordability, the task force said the current Lifeline program no longer meets the needs of many low-income households and suggested drawing on lessons from the ACP, which it estimated reached 43% of eligible households compared with Lifeline’s roughly 20%. 

The framework also called for stronger cybersecurity support for community anchor institutions, expanded public data on fund spending, and periodic review of the FCC’s current 100/20 Mbps broadband benchmark.

The task force’s framework was aimed at Congress, but it arrived as the FCC pursued its own overhaul of the USF. The FCC recently adopted a proposed rulemaking to examine USAC’s operations and reduce waste and fraud, along with separate proceedings targeting the Rural Health Care and High-Cost programs.

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