BEAD Challenge Process

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

April 4, 2024
NTIA approved the CPUC BEAD Initial Proposal Volume 1.

The BEAD Challenge Process

California was awarded $1.86 billion in federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) funding to build infrastructure and expand internet access in rural and historically underserved communities.

In the coming months, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will host a Challenge Process to accurately identify internet service levels for locations around the state of California. This validation and update of current internet service data is critical to the success of the BEAD Program.

Program rules require that the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) broadband map will serve as the starting point for service status, and the FCC’s definitions for “unserved” and “underserved” will be used and prioritized in the following order:

  • Unserved locations are defined as Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSL) that lack access to “Reliable Broadband Service” at speeds of at least 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream and at latency levels low enough to support real-time, interactive applications.
  • Underserved locations are defined as BSLs that lack access to “Reliable Broadband Service” at speeds of at least 100 Mbps downstream and 20 Mbps upstream and at latency levels low enough to support real-time, interactive applications.

 

What is the Challenge Process?

Challengers can submit evidence to change the service status (e.g., from unserved to underserved, from served to unserved, etc.) of any individual location or group of locations once the Challenge Process has begun. These location classifications will play a critical role in the distribution of BEAD funding, as the program will give first funding priority to unserved locations, followed by underserved locations as second priority, and community anchor institutions (CAI) as third. There will be a 30-day period in which eligible challengers will be able to submit challenges to the CPUC via a web portal.

Per the NTIA, eligible challengers include:

• Local governments

• Tribal nations

• Nonprofit organizations

• Internet service providers

Can individuals also participate in the Challenge Process?

While NTIA requirements don't allow individuals to submit challenges directly, California residents will play an important role in the challenge process by identifying inaccuracies and working with eligible participating nonprofits or local governments to challenge the maps. More information to come.

Types of Challenges

The BEAD Challenge Process accommodates several types of challenges. Challenges will be officially submitted via the Challenge Portal, where registered eligible challengers will be able to select locations, select a challenge type, and upload corresponding evidence. Further information on required evidence and acceptable challenge types can be found in NTIA’s BEAD Challenge Process Policy Notice. Types of challenges include:

This challenge provides evidence to change or challenge the current classification of a location as an unserved or underserved location eligible for BEAD funds based on broadband serviceable data. This may include:

  • Availability – if the listed broadband service is not available at the reported location.
  • Speed – if the actual speed of service falls below the unserved or underserved thresholds but is reported as a higher speed.
  • Latency – if the round-trip latency of the broadband service exceeds 100 milliseconds.
  • Business service only – if the location is residential, but the service offered is marketed or available only to businesses.
  • Data cap – if the only service plans marketed to a consumer impose a monthly data cap of below 600GB.
  • Technology – if the technology indicated at a location is incorrect.

This challenge provides evidence about whether a location should be classified as a CAI. The categories of locations that classify as CAIs in California are defined in NTIA’s BEAD Challenge Process Policy Notice.

This type of challenge provides evidence to identify previous federal, state, or local enforceable commitments to minimize duplication of funding. 

In this challenge, a broadband provider (or other eligible provider) offers convincing evidence that it is currently building out broadband to challenged locations without a government subsidy or is building out broadband offering performance beyond the program requirements.

Planned Service challenges enable broadband providers to demonstrate that they have begun construction to provide services offering speeds of at least 100/20 Mbps to BSLs and will begin offering those services by June 30, 2024.

Timeline
Coming soon.

Current Status and Next Steps

California’s BEAD Initial Proposal Volume I has been submitted and is awaiting NTIA approval. Before the California BEAD Challenge Process begins, prospective participants can act now to prepare, using the following steps:

  1. Sign up to receive updates via the CPUC email list, including announcements on upcoming events and learning opportunities.
  2. Review the California BEAD Challenge Process, outlined in CPUC’s Initial Proposal Volume I (as submitted to NTIA, final version will be posted once it has been approved).
  3. We will announce the exact dates for the start and finish of the Challenge Process on this website and through our email distribution list.
  4. Reach out to the CPUC with any questions on the Challenge Process. Emails can be sent to: BEAD@cpuc.ca.gov
  5. For eligible challengers (ISPs, local and Tribal governments, and nonprofit organizations), it is encouraged to obtain a Tier D or Tier E CostQuest License, depending on the organization type. More information can be found here: Location IDs and Tier E Licenses and CostQuest Licensing | BroadbandUSA (doc.gov)
  6. Follow CPUC’s BEAD Rulemaking (R.23.02.016) which established the California’s rules for the BEAD Program.