Broadband Office Name: West Virginia Department of Economic Development
BEAD Award Amount: $1.21 B
West Virginia Broadband Director: Kelly Workman
Website: https://broadband.wv.gov/
West Virginia BEAD Program Tracker
| State | IP Vol 1 Approval | IP Vol 2 Approval | Challenge Process Submission Closed | Submitted Challenge Results to NTIA | Challenge Process Results Approved by NTIA | 1-Year Subgrantee Selection Process |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | N/A | N/A |
West Virginia BEAD Program Information
Key Updates
On April 25, 2024, the NTIA approved West Virginia’s Initial Proposal Volume 2.
In May 2024, West Virginia extended the BEAD pre-application deadline to May 30. By June 2024, the state had revised the draft for target areas and regions for the BEAD program.
West Virginia is currently in the Final Determination phase of the Challenge process.
West Virginia BEAD Program Plans & Maps
West Virginia BEAD Program Initial Proposal Volume 2: Overview
BEAD Long-Term Objectives
West Virginia Department of Economic Development (WVDED) goals for the BEAD program:
Goal 1: Universal Broadband Access
- Objective: All Broadband Service Locations (BSLs) in West Virginia will have access to broadband at speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps.
- Deploy broadband service to all BEAD-eligible locations by 2029 by adding services to 10% of unserved and underserved locations each year beginning in 2024.
- Goal 1.2: Overcoming Infrastructure Barriers
- Objective: Address barriers to broadband infrastructure projects serving residents and businesses in the state.
- Improve Dig Once policies by creating standards for laying conduit during major highway construction or reconstruction and ensuring professional, responsive management of open conduit available for use.
- Goal 1.3: Increasing Access to Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs)
- Objective: Ensure all CAIs in West Virginia have access to broadband speeds of 1 Gbps/1 Gbps by the end of 2029.
- By 2025, serve 10% of West Virginia’s unserved CAIs with 1 Gbps/1 Gbps service.
- Complete an examination of the percentage of West Virginians located within a reasonable proximity of CAIs by the end of 2024.
Goal 2: Affordable Connectivity and Device Access
- Objective 2.1: Realize affordable connectivity.
- Increase enrollment in the ACP, contingent on continued funding for the program.
- Objective 2.2: Secure device access and affordability.
- Ensure technical assistance and a program to provide device distribution, lending, and recycling.
- Provide digital literacy training and ensure websites and online services by state agencies are accessible.
- Objective 2.3: Elevate digital skills and accessibility of public services and economic opportunities.
Goal 3: Economic Development and Online Services
- Objective 3.1: Use broadband as a driver of economic development opportunities.
- Objective 3.2: Ensure West Virginians have access to online education opportunities and telehealth services.
West Virginia BEAD Program Project Area Design
WVDED has created Target Areas, which are pre-defined groupings of targeted locations. These areas are formed through a clustering method aimed at creating approximately homogeneous and contiguous groupings. Each Target Area will typically contain only one type of targeted location: unserved, underserved, or fully served. Most Community Anchor Institutions (CAIs) will be grouped into Target Areas with nearby unserved and underserved locations. However, those CAIs that cannot be grouped in this manner will become their own independent Target Areas. Additionally, nearby Target Areas will be further grouped into Target Regions.
West Virginia BEAD Program Extremely High Cost Threshold
WVDED will use a “floating” EHC. This approach involves establishing a Minimum Threshold, Maximum Threshold, and Budget after the Pre-Application Phase.
- Minimum Threshold: Represents the lowest cost per location that would reasonably be considered extremely high cost, based on an analysis of CostQuest data and WVDED cost estimations.
- Maximum Threshold: Represents the cost per location that WVDED considers unreasonable. Funding locations above this threshold may jeopardize the ability to fulfill BEAD program requirements.
- Budget: Represents the targeted maximum grant cost to provide service to all unserved and underserved locations. The Budget may exceed the estimate of the total grant cost to serve all unserved and underserved locations in West Virginia, as developed for the State’s Five-Year Broadband Action Plan, and may also exceed the estimated net present value (NPV) deficit for these locations in the CostQuest greenfield fiber NPV estimates.
BEAD Deployment Subgrantee Selection
WBDED is asking for the following preregistration evidence from subgrantees and compliance with: Financial capability, managerial capability, operational capability, technical capability, ownership info, public funding info, compliance with laws, cybersecurity/supply chain compliance, and BABA/EHP/NEPA/NHPA compliance.
Primary Scoring Criteria for Priority Broadband Projects
- 100 pts – Minimal BEAD Outlay
- 25 pts – Affordability
- 25 pts – Fair Labor Practices
Secondary Scoring Criteria
- 15 pts – Speed to Deployment
- 15 pts – Demonstrated Community Support
- 20 pts – Community Impact
Primary Scoring Criteria for Non-Priority Broadband Projects
- 100 pts – Minimal BEAD Outlay
- 25 pts – Affordability
- 25 pts – Fair Labor Practices
Secondary Scoring Criteria
- 10 pts – Speed to Deployment
- 10 pts – Demonstrated Community Support
- 15 pts – Community Impact
- 15 pts – Speed of Network & Other Technical Capabilities
BEAD Non-Deployment Subgrantee Selection
In line with the State Digital Equity Plan and allowable BEAD Non-Deployment Activities, WVDED intends to engage in three non-deployment initiatives: a digital literacy/digital navigator program, a device distribution program, and a workforce development program.
WVDED will utilize a competitive process for eligible organizations that is structured for maximum local autonomy and flexibility. WVDED will conduct a competitive procurement process to solicit eligible state, or regional organizations interested in receiving state contracts in a wide geographic area.
These organizations may include but are not limited to: Regional Planning and Development Councils, the West Virginia Library Association, WVU Cooperative Extension, school districts, or other large organizations that support and oversee digital navigation services in a wide area.
BEAD Eligible Entity Implementation
WVDED has opted to carry out some related activities without making a subgrant:
- BEAD Grant Administration Activities
- State Challenge Process
- Subgrantee Selection
- Webinars and Public Outreach
- Grants Management System
- Post-Award Compliance and Project Reporting
- Oversight of Non-Deployment Programs
- Workforce Development
Permits and Licensing Coordination/Capacity: WVDED will establish a Permits and Licensing Coordination and Capacity Initiative (PLCC) to address identified deployment barriers and promote coordination between stakeholders.
BEAD Local, Tribe, and Regional Broadband Planning Process
WVDED)has 35 plans related to broadband deployment and digital equity goals. The breakdown of these plans is as follows:
- Digital Equity: 1 plan
- Connectivity: 11 plans
- Workforce Development: 1 plan
- Economic Development: 14 plans
- Community Benefit: 2 plans
- Telehealth: 2 plans
- Other Digital Equity or Broadband Concepts: 1 plan
Funding and Initiatives:
- Community Development Block Grant (CDBG): West Virginia has utilized $6.3 million in CDBG funding to support local broadband planning across 20 projects.
- Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC): In January 2023, ARC awarded $6.3 million to bolster broadband access across 50 communities through its Appalachian Regional Initiative for Strong Communities (ARISE). ARC funds also support broadband programs like Partnerships for Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER), Central Appalachian Broadband, and North Central Appalachian Broadband.
- WV GigaReady Program: This program provides an opportunity for local governments and organizations to dedicate funds available through the ARPA or other local funding sources to broadband development initiatives in partnership with agencies and offices. It also offers technical assistance through various events, such as Internet for All, WV Broadband Summit, monthly Workforce Development Council meetings, webinars, in-person presentations at CAIs, and WVU’s broadband toolkit.
- Engagement and Outreach: WVDED engaged 11 Regional Planning and Development Councils (RPDCs) to hold 132 listening sessions with over 1,000 attendees.
BEAD Labor Standards & Protection
WVDED requires all BEAD subgrantees to submit the following information:
A record of past compliance with federal/employment laws:
- Must address info on deployment projects within the last 3 years.
- Certification form from an Officer/Director level employee of past compliance.
- Written confirmation that subgrantee has disclosed any violations from contractors within the last 3 years.
- Discussion of workforce plan
Plans for ensuring compliance with federal/employment laws:
- How subgrantee will ensure compliance in its labor/employment practices.
- Info on applicable wage scales, wage, and overtime practices for each class of employee expected to be involved in physical construction of the network.
- How subgrantee will ensure implementation of workplace safety committees.
- Comply with the Prevailing Wages Act.
- Other items as outlined in the BEAD NOFO.
WVDED’s modified list of mandatory actions for all subgrantees and their contractors and subcontractors:
- Using a directly employed workforce, as opposed to a subcontracted workforce.
- Paying federal prevailing wages and benefits to workers, including compliance with Davis-Bacon and Service Contract Act requirements.
- Use of local hire provisions.
- Commitments to union neutrality.
- Use of an appropriately skilled workforce.
- Use of an appropriately credentialed workforce.
- Taking steps to prevent the misclassification of workers
BEAD Minority Business Enterprises / Women’s Business Enterprises / Labor Surplus Area Firms Inclusion
WVDED confirms it will take the necessary affirmative steps as outlined in the BEAD NOFO, along with other strategies:
- Outreach and Solicitation:
- Place qualified small and minority businesses and women’s business enterprises on solicitation lists through virtual outreach events.
- Ensure that small and minority businesses and women’s business enterprises are solicited whenever they are potential sources.
- Task Division and Scheduling:
- Divide total requirements, when economically feasible, into smaller tasks or quantities to permit maximum participation by small and minority businesses and women’s business enterprises.
- Establish delivery schedules that encourage participation by small and minority businesses and women’s business enterprises, where requirements permit.
- Documentation and Assistance:
- Require subgrantees to document good faith efforts to reach out to these businesses.
- Utilize the services and assistance of organizations such as the Small Business Administration and the Minority Business Development Agency of the Department of Commerce, as appropriate.
- Subgrantee Requirements:
- Require subgrantees to take the affirmative steps listed above in relation to subcontractors.
BEAD Cost & Barrier Reduction
1. Promoting the use of existing infrastructure.
2. Promoting and adapting dig-once policies.
3. Streamlining permitting processes.
4. Streamlining cost-effective access to poles, conduits, and easements.
5. Streamlining rights of way, including the imposition of reasonable access requirements.
BEAD Low-Cost Broadband Service Option
Subgrantees must include in their offerings a plan that meets the following specifications:
- Total Cost: The plan must not exceed $50 per month, inclusive of all taxes, fees, and charges.
- ACP Participation: The plan must be made available to users eligible for and/or enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
- Offering Time Period: The plan must be offered for at least ten years from the service turn-up.
- Price Increases: Applicants are only permitted to increase prices of this plan:
- a) Commensurate to year-over-year changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food & Energy (Core CPI) as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- b) Due to new or increased government-mandated taxes and fees imposed on the consumer, not providers.
- Service Characteristics: The plan must provide the greater of:
- a) Typical download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps, or the fastest speeds the infrastructure is capable of if less than 100 Mbps/20 Mbps.
- b) The performance benchmark for fixed terrestrial broadband service established by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to Section 706(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
- Upgrades Permitted: If the provider later offers a low-cost plan with higher downstream and/or upstream speeds, eligible subscribers must be permitted to upgrade to the new low-cost offering at no charge. For example, if a customer is subscribed to a low-cost broadband service option that provides service at 100/20 Mbps and the service provider later offers a new low-cost broadband service option at 200/20 Mbps, the customer would be allowed to upgrade to the 200/20 Mbps offering at no charge.
BEAD Middle-Class Affordability
Subgrantees must include plans with the following specifications:
- Cost and Coverage:
- The plan must not exceed $50 per month, inclusive of all fees, taxes, and charges.
- No data caps or data overage charges.
- ACP Participation:
- The plan must be available to users eligible for and/or enrolled in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
- Offering Time Period:
- The plan must be offered for ten years from the service turn-up.
- Price Increases:
- Annual price increases are permitted commensurate to year-over-year changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food & Energy (Core CPI) as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- Cost changes due to new or increased government-mandated taxes and fees imposed on the consumer, not providers, are permitted.
- Service Characteristics:
- Latency for these plans must not exceed 100 milliseconds.
- The plan must provide the greater of:
- Typical download speeds of at least 100 Mbps and typical upload speeds of at least 20 Mbps, or the fastest speeds the infrastructure is capable of if less than 100 Mbps/20 Mbps.
- The performance benchmark for fixed terrestrial broadband service established by the Federal Communications Commission pursuant to Section 706(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended.
- Upgrades Permitted:
- If the provider later offers a low-cost plan with higher speeds, eligible subscribers must be permitted to upgrade at no charge.
Additional Requirements:
- Prices shall be rounded by WVDED to the nearest whole number (e.g., $65.99 would be rounded to $66 for the purposes of this calculation).
- Scoring:
- Priority Project Scoring: One point for every $2 below $115 per month for plans offering 1/1 Gbps or better (max 25 points).
- Non-Priority Project Scoring: One point for every $2 below $85 per month for plans offering 100/20 Mbps or better (max 25 points).