CHARLESTON, W.VA — The West Virginia Department of Economic Development, Office of Broadband (WVDED) is launching a five-part webinar series that guides applicants through the Extension phase of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (“BEAD”) program. Each installment covers a different critical topic, and today, WVDED is publishing the first three videos in the series. The topics of all five videos, including today’s, are:

1. Introduction: Key Information, Structure, and ZoomGrants Portal (View HERE)
2. Extension Pre-Application (View HERE)
3. Extension Application: Overview (View HERE)
4. Extension Application: Building Applications – Creating Projects, High-Level Design, Resiliency and Scalability, Speed of Network and Other Technical Capabilities (Coming Soon)
5. Extension Application: Capital Cost and Grant Request, Community Impact & Support, Documents (Coming Soon)

This pre-recorded video series will walk applicants through critical components of the Extension application process, allowing them to move at their own pace and revisit materials. WVDED encourages interested applicants, including traditional and non-traditional internet service providers, to review these videos as needed.

Background and Target Audience

Through the BEAD program, WVDED seeks to achieve universal broadband access in homes, businesses, and community anchor institutions across the state. On October 24, 2024, WVDED concluded the Full Application phase of the program, which gathered project proposals for West Virginia’s broadband serviceable locations.

Subsequently, WVDED launched the Extension of the program, aiming to collect applications for Target Areas currently without viable projects or at risk of not receiving any. The Extension application window opened on November 8 and will close on December 19, 2024. More details about the Extension can be found HERE.

Please visit broadband.wv.gov for program updates and other information.

Questions?

WVDED is available to answer questions on this application process and eligibility through the BEAD Question Submission Form available online. Please provide your contact information for follow-up, as needed.

Thank you for your interest in West Virginia’s BEAD Program.