US BEAD Program Delivers First Funded Broadband Connection — Nebraska Farmhouse Gets 800 Mbps via Vistabeam

The $42.45 billion BEAD (Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment) program reached its first physical connection milestone on May 14–15, 2026, when NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson and Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen jointly announced that a farmhouse 11 miles northwest of Ogallala, Nebraska had been connected via Vistabeam fixed wireless at 800+ Mbps down / 200+ Mbps up — well above the federal 100/20 Mbps minimum. Vistabeam received $423,375 in BEAD funding to serve 93 total locations in Keith County. Louisiana activated its own first BEAD connection on the same day. The announcement marks the first real-world connectivity outcome from the $42.45 billion BEAD program, the largest federal broadband investment in US history, after more than two years of planning and state program development. NTIA noted the program is now in active deployment across multiple states, with hundreds of projects in construction phases.