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Sub-Grantee Selection Process

Illinois’ Provisional BEAD Awards Now Available.

Welcome to Connect Illinois Round 4, the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program!

The BEAD-funded Connect Illinois Round 4 Benefit of the Bargain Round (sub-grantee selection), in alignment with the NTIA BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice, was open from July 1-18, 2025, 11:59 pm CT.

From September 23-29, 2025, 5 pm CT, Illinois welcomed public comment on its Final Proposal, which was then submitted on September 30, 2025.

 For questions, please contact broadband@illinois.gov.

Final Proposal Documents

On September 22, the IOB completed its Special Award Condition (SAC) meeting with NTIA, and received the greenlight to post its BEAD Final Proposal for the seven-day public comment period. The public comment period was held on September 23-29, 2025 at 5 pm CT.

Illinois stakeholders are invited to review the documents below and explore the interactive map.

Document Description
Final Proposal The Final Proposal documents the process the IOB undertook through the Benefit of the Bargain application round to arrive at its preliminary awards.

Award Information CSVs
Interactive Map Available at illinoisbead.org An interactive map that shows provisional award information for locations eligible to be connected through the BEAD Program. 
Draft Grant Agreements

Draft grant agreements are available for review, subject to change:

 

Application Documents

Document Description
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO)
 State of Illinois grant opportunity rules and requirements.
Application Guidebook Overview of all application questions, including templates and form links, plus additional details.
Application Forms: There are three forms which must be completed for an application to be considered final:
  • Entity Form – Entity-specific qualification information (to be completed just once per entity).
  • Project Form – Project-specific information (must be completed for each project).
  • Application Submission Form – Final State-required form to consider an application formally submitted (must be completed for each project). 
Project Area Selection Tool

Tool to explore and download proposed project area.  Includes shapefiles available for download.  Applicants are required to download a CSV from this tool with their proposed project area as part of the application.

 
Reusing a Wave 1 Submission Form

Use this form to indicate that the IOB should consider some or all of a Wave 1 application for the Benefit of the Bargain (BotB) Round. By completing this application, the state will reference some or all of an applicant’s Wave 1 submission, with the opportunity to provide certain revised materials. 

This form is for:

  • Wave 1 preliminary awardees
  • Wave 1 applicants whose applications were rolled over to Wave 2

Additional Resources

 

Archived Documents

These documents are superseded by the June 6, 2025 NTIA BEAD Restructuring Policy Notice.