U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito says West Virginia’s final proposal for federal funding under a broadband expansion program has been approved for nearly a half billion dollars.

The okay of the state’s plan came Thursday from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program. An exact funding amount was not announced.

“I am thrilled that West Virginia’s BEAD plan has been approved by the Department of Commerce,” Capito said in statement. “This means West Virginia is another step closer to better-connecting our homes, businesses, and classrooms across the state. I have had dozens of conversations with the Administration and our state officials, and while there is still a long road ahead to getting more West Virginians connected, we are well on our way with today’s announcement. I look forward to continuing to help our state in any way that I can as the plan moves its way through the approval process at NIST.”

The final proposal, submitted by the Morrisey administration in September, is intended to serve all locations eligible for BEAD funding in West Virginia — about 74,000 locations, including unserved, underserved, and community anchor institutions.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey talked about the approval at a Friday morning news conference.

“This technological upgrade will connect every corner of West Virginia and facilitate the jobs and opportunities needed to move forward,” Morrisey said. “We’ve worked closely with the Trump administration to secure this historic investment and are proud to provide these possibilities to the people of West Virginia.”

According to the governor’s office the state’s plan includes nearly $546 million for 142 deployment projects, connecting 73,044 unserved and underserved locations throughout the state. NTIA is reviewing other allowable uses for the additional funds and will issue updated guidance in the future.

“Congratulations to West Virginia on the approval of its BEAD Final Proposal,” Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Arielle Roth said Thursday. “In August, I had the opportunity to visit West Virginia and meet with Senator Capito, the state broadband office, and local providers to discuss the BEAD program and the state’s work to deliver a Final Proposal that embraced the Benefit of the Bargain reforms while addressing West Virginia’s unique connectivity challenges. This trip was invaluable in deepening my understanding of those challenges, and I appreciate Senator Capito’s dedication and longstanding efforts to connect every corner of her state.”

The BEAD program is a $42.45 billion state grant program authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. States were allocated funding to deploy or upgrade high-speed internet networks to ensure that everyone has access to reliable, affordable, high-speed Internet service.

Capito first announced the state had received approval for $1.2 billion in BEAD funding in 2023 but the Trump administration earlier this year announced a “rigorous review” of the BEAD program, leading to a delay and some restructuring that was put in place June 6.

The state Broadband Enhancement Council reviewed new connectivity numbers in a meeting earlier this week.

MetroNews reported those numbers show the state is the third least connected state in the U.S. but it is growing in connectivity at a faster rate than most other states. BEAD funding is expected to further improve those numbers.

The report showed growth in broadband, the number of locations with fiber. There were just more than 200,000 locations with fiber in 2019 and that grew to 693,000 locations in 2024 representing a 245 percent increase in fiber locations in the last five years,

Download speeds have increased by 83 percent since 2022 while upload speeds have increased by 37 percent during that same time.