Broadband Stimulus Program for Rural America

NTIA/RUS Release Details on Broadband Stimulus Funds Available

Article courtesy of Wireless Estimator

The Departments of Agriculture and Commerce have released details on how entities can apply for funds allocated for broadband grants, loans, and loan guarantees under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) is available here and describes the procedures necessary for applying for stimulus money to fund broadband initiatives.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is administering the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program portion of the funding, and the Rural Utilities Service, which is administering the Broadband Initiatives Program portion of the funding, have each released two page fact sheets on their programs which are available for download (BTOP Fact Sheet) and (Broadband Initiative Program).

The government will allow private companies to bid for BTOP money and has defined broadband as 768 kbps downstream, 200kbps upstream, according to the just-released guidelines for broadband stimulus funds.

Definitions have been provided for the broadband infrastructure category — up to $1.2 billion — for funded projects that deliver broadband service through last mile or middle mile facilities to unserved and underserved areas.

Unserved Area: An area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where at least 90 percent of households in the proposed funded service area lack access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service, either fixed or mobile, at the minimum broadband speed.

Underserved Area: Last Mile Projects—an area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where at least one of the following is met: 1) no more than 50 percent of households in the proposed funded service area have access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service at greater than the minimum broadband speed; 2) no fixed or mobile broadband service provider advertises broadband speeds of at least 3 Mbps downstream in the proposed funded service area; or 3) the rate of broadband subscribership for the proposed service area is 40 percent of households or less. Middle Mile Projects—an area composed of one or more contiguous census blocks where one interconnection point terminates in a census block area(s) that qualifies as unserved or underserved for Last Mile projects.

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