Applicants trying to score a piece of the $4 billion available in the first round of broadband stimulus funds now face an Aug. 20 deadline for electronic filings. Paper filings are still due Aug. 14.
to request funding. The majority of the $7.2 billion available to improve the nation’s access to broadband telecom services is set to be given away either as loans or grants in this round of funding. Two more funding rounds will follow. All of the $7.2 billion set aside to help bring broadband access to more Americans must be awarded by Sept. 30, 2010.
The funds are part of a $787 billion stimulus package signed by President Obama to create U.S. jobs and jumpstart the nation’s sluggish economy. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Department of Commerce, will oversee $4.7 billion in funding, and the Rural Utilities Services (RUS), part of the Department of Agriculture, will manage another $2.5 billion in grants and loans. Nearly all of the RUS funding is available this round.
In its July Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA), details of the stimulus requirements were spelled out, including what constitutes an unserved or underserved area. Broadband service is defined as 768 kilobits per second for downstream traffic and 200 kbps upstream. Applicants must be able to show the project can be self-sustaining, and that the project could not be completed without the federal funding. Projects must also meet the Federal Communications Commission’s Internet Policy regulations, which in part state that the company may not favor some applications or content over others. Each state is set to receive at least one grant.
“The Commerce Department’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program will reach the last frontiers of America’s information landscape, and the investments it makes in inner-city neighborhoods and rural communities will spur innovation and pave the way for private capital to follow,” said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. “This first wave of funding will help create jobs, jumpstart additional investment and provide model projects that can better inform our national broadband strategy.”
In addition to money for building infrastructure, $200 million has been set aside for public computer center capacity, including libraries and community colleges, $350 million to develop and maintain a broadband inventory map and $10 million for the Inspector General to monitor the grant funds.
For additional information to assist you in applying for broadband stimulus funds, you can attend the Webinar on Broadband Stimulus Funding Rules (https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/406824179) on July 23, 2009 presented by the PCIA and the DAS Forum and the Webinar on Completing your BTOP Engineering Plan in Hours, Instead of Weeks (https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/762473330) on July 28, 2009 featuring a presentation by Wireless Applications, Corp.
