photo credit: Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
Extension Hosting BEAD BOB Public Comment Webinar & Office Hours
August 25, 2025, Alert:
On Friday the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Wisconsin made several important announcements related to the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program via the Wisconsin Broadband Office newsletter.
First, the Commission published Wisconsin’s Draft Final Proposal for the BEAD program in Docket 5-BD-2025 located in the PSC Electronic Records Filing (ERF) system. The Commission also published a number of supporting documents in the BEAD docket, including the final proposed data for subgrantees, projects, locations, and Community Anchor Institutions (CAI). In addition, the Commission shared links to a map of preliminary BEAD awards and a summary of preliminary BEAD awards by county and service provider in the WBO newsletter. The awards are considered preliminary until the proposal goes to the Commission for review and approval and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) approves the final proposal.
Second, the Commission opened a short window for public comment on the preliminary BEAD subgrantee awards, which is open now through Friday, August 29, 2025. This public comment period will be the final opportunity for communities and individuals to voice their opinions on these preliminary awards. The Commission published a memo inviting public comment on the final proposal in the BEAD docket. Public comments will be reviewed by the Commission and submitted to the NTIA as part of Wisconsin’s final proposal.
Scroll down to register for Extension’s public comment office hours and to access the “Preparing for BEAD BOB Public Comment” webinar presentation slides from August 21, 2025. Video from the webinar will be posted soon.
Background
Wisconsin Broadband Office (WBO) housed at the Public Service Commission closed its Benefit of the Bargain (BOB) round of the BEAD program on July 28th. From these applications it has made its preliminary decisions. There will also be opening a SHORT window for public comment. Although the dates have note yet been released, we do know this entire process will be completed before Labor Day. Wisconsin will submit its proposal with all preliminary awards to NTIA the first week of September. ALL AWARDS ARE PRLIMINARY UNTIL NTIA GIVES FINAL APPROVAL.
NTIA in its new BEAD BOB guidelines places preference on the lowest cost installation and has removed community endorsement from scoring. With that in mind it will be critical for communities and individuals to officially voice their opinions on the preliminary awards through the official public comment period. This public comment period will be your only opportunity to make your wishes known in the public record.
Webinar
The Extension Broadband Team hosted a Preparing for BEAD BOB Public Comment Webinar on Thursday, August 21st, 12 noon – 1 pm to share how to submit a public comment. The slide deck from the webinar is available below:
Office Hours
To assist communities and individuals in filing their BEAD BOB public comment the Extension Broadband Team held office hours throughout the public comment period. Registration is closed, the events have passed.
