ARPA

This funding comes from federal and state laws passed in 2021. At the federal level, it is authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). At the state level, it is supported by Montana House Bill 632 and Senate Bill 297, which created laws for broadband infrastructure and established the Connect Montana Act.

On March 11, 2021, ARPA was signed into law. This law created two funding programs: the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund. The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued rules (31 CFR Part 35) to guide how these funds are used.

On September 20, 2021, the U.S. Treasury issued additional guidance for these programs and allocated $275 million to the State of Montana. These funds, along with money from the Capital Projects Fund, were awarded through a competitive grant process to expand and improve broadband internet access across the state.

Broadband funding under ARPA includes money from two sources: the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Section 602) and the Capital Projects Fund (Section 604). During Montana’s 68th Legislative Session, the state approved moving $44.1 million in Section 602 funds into this program. The state also applied for and received approval for $119.9 million from the Capital Projects Fund. As a result, total funding for broadband grants increased from $266 million to about $310 million.

Funding & Resources

ARPA broadband funding comes from two sources: the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (Section 602) and the Capital Projects Fund (Section 604). During Montana’s 68th legislative session, the state approved moving about $44.1 million in Section 602 funds into this program. The state also applied for and received approval for $119.9 million from the Capital Projects Fund. This increased total grant funding from $266 million to about $310 million.

On December 14, 2022, Governor Gianforte approved 61 broadband projects recommended by the Montana Department of Administration. These projects serve 61,887 locations across the state. Of these, 38,631 locations are unserved, 21,956 are underserved, and 1,300 are rural.

Approved projects: View the 2022 project list

In October 2025, the Communications Advisory Commission discussed about $18 million in funds that could be reassigned. The Department of Administration then held an “ARPA Lightning Round” to accept new applications. On December 3, 2025, Governor Gianforte approved five additional projects totaling about $16.3 million. These projects serve about 1,480 locations across Montana.

You can view these projects here: /_docs/connectmt/ARPA-Lightning-Round-Approved-Projects.pdf

The Department of Administration will continue to reassign any remaining funds using a structured process. Priority will be given to high-performing ARPA subrecipients.

State of Montana ARPA Dashboard

Internet Service Provider Information

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has found that some ConnectMT projects are unlikely to affect cultural resources. This is the case when all construction will happen in areas where past, non-historic work has already disturbed or removed the soil.

Examples include existing road rights-of-way and utility corridors. SHPO defines cultural resources as places where people lived, worked, or changed the land 50 or more years ago.

For broadband projects with a low chance of affecting these resources, Internet Service Providers (ISPs or subgrantees) may self-certify in their Submittable portal. This option is allowed when SHPO recommends it and can be used instead of a formal file search.

In all other cases, the ISP must contact SHPO. This applies if any part of the project is in undisturbed ground, native rangeland, or connected to any resource that is 50 years old or more. It also applies if the project is outside an existing road right-of-way or utility corridor.

In these situations, the ISP should submit a file search request form and a project area map to SHPO. If SHPO does not recommend a cultural resource inventory, SHPO will write a letter for the ISP to send to the Department of Administration’s ConnectMT Broadband Program.

If the file search shows that a cultural resource inventory is needed, SHPO will advise the ISP to hire a qualified cultural resource consultant. That consultant will survey the specific areas where new ground disturbance will occur. Further information on this process can be found in the SHPO Consultation

The chart below summarizes all 80 application packages received under the ConnectMT Federal Allocation Program, First Allocation Offering Season (ConnectMT’22 Program). Each application package has a unique application number, an application title chosen by the applicant, and the name of the applicant organization.

The ConnectMT’22 Program received allocation requests totaling $521,488,379.64 to serve 158,019 locations in underserved, unserved, and frontier areas of Montana. The categories shown in the chart reflect the priorities set in Montana’s 67th Legislature House Bill 632 and House Bill 297.

Other categories include:

  • Technology Types Deployed: Fixed Wireless, Combination of Fixed Wireless and FTTH (Combination), and Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH)
  • Total Allocation Request
  • Total Project Budget
  • Project Location, by County
  • Serviceable Locations Connected, by Frontier (no/extremely limited terrestrial broadband), Unserved (under 25/3), Underserved (under 100/20), and Served locations
  • Deployment Timeline
  • Project Summary Narrative (short narrative provided by Applicant for public release)

Mapping data for all complete and submitted applications is available in the Application-Summary.

Sixty challenges were submitted through the ConnectMT website. The ConnectMT Program reviewed each challenge and also carried out its own review of the proposed project areas. The results of these reviews are shown in the table below.

The main purpose of the challenge process was to make sure the ConnectMT map is accurate and that awarded funds support broadband infrastructure in unserved or underserved areas. Only challenges related to active applications are shown in the table.

Click here to view the Challenge Process Results

ARPA Map

To request access to the Montana Broadband Application Map, please submit the form below with the necessary information. Requests will be reviewed by the Broadband team as quickly as possible.

Note: please ensure you have registered for an Okta account prior to filling out the request form.

Prior to requesting access to the Montana Broadband Application Map, users must have an Okta account. You can sign in to https://login.mt.gov in any of these ways:

  • If this is your first time signing in, you may be able to sign in with your existing ePass Montana login email address, or
  • By creating a new account through https://login.mt.gov

For additional assistance with Okta, you can visit https://okta.mt.gov/Help.