Bill > HB1535

This bill, the BEAM Act, makes several revisions to Mississippi law concerning broadband expansion. It modifies the definition of an "eligible project" to be a project seeking to provide broadband services to residences, businesses, and/or community institutions, removing the previous requirement for it to be a "discrete and specific" project in an "unserved or underserved area" and instead aligning it with applicable federal grant program guidelines. The bill also revises requirements for applicants seeking funding under the BEAM Act, which stands for the Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility of Mississippi, by changing the format for submitting project locations from a "shapefile" (a digital file containing location-based data) to a format required by BEAM. Additionally, it clarifies that BEAM will not award funding if the proposed project area already has broadband services deployed by a provider other than the applicant, or if construction by another provider is already underway and scheduled for completion within one year.

Transportation and Infrastructure

https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1535.xml