What's in the Box?

Applying for Broadband Grants through RUS

Created by Anna M. Gould (EDUCAUSE) on March 12, 2009

Yesterday’s blog focused on the broadband grant process at the Department of Commerce’s NTIA program. Today we take a look at the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program. It should be noted that both departments issued a joint request for information and notice of public meetings, which will allow the public to submit comments on the broadband initiative.

At Tuesday’s conference, the USDA’s Assistant Administrator for Telecommunications Programs, Dave Villano, said 75% of the designated stimulus money must be used in rural areas to foster rural economic development. The RUS program may distribute up to $2.5 billion for grants, loans, and loan guarantees. And unlike its counterpart at the Department of Commerce, RUS already has two existing programs for appropriating funding for broadband. Because of the existing programs, they are expected to keep many of their process and eligibility rules in place.

Similar to the NTIA, RUS will publish a Notice of Funding Available (NOFA) in the Federal Register. They are also expected to have three notices of funding, which should give interested parties more time to apply for grants over the next few months. In other words, no one is expecting that all of the money will be awarded in the first wave of acceptances. The first NOFA is expected around the April-June 2009 timeframe.

More Information on RUS Broadband:

• Applicants may apply for both RUS and NTIA grants; however, restrictions may apply on how the money is distributed for projects.
• Unlike the NTIA’s September 2010 deadline, RUS does not have a deadline for distributing money. However, they are expected to conduct their three waves of grant distribution over the next 18 months.
• The current loan and grant programs at RUS focus on providing funding for “construction, improvement, and/or acquisition of facilities or equipment to expand broadband services to rural communities.” (Source: Dow Lohnes)
• Under current law, RUS must give priority to those entities proposing to provide service to areas lacking any service over applicants looking to expand access or broadband options.
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act- the economic stimulus - allows the RUS to also prioritize applications based on: 1) if they provide choice of providers, 2) if they provide accessibility to the highest number possible of rural residents currently without any broadband access, and 3) if they were prior RUS borrowers.
• Though RUS may distribute money through loans and grants, it is believed that most of the economic stimulus funding will be used for grants.
• Currently, grant applicants must demonstrate that they are able to provide broadband access to areas that currently do not have access. Furthermore, they must be willing to supply service to “critical community facilities,” such as schools, libraries, and health centers. Finally, they must offer broadband to all businesses and residences in their service area, and provide ten publicly available computers for at least two years. These requirements are listed under current rules for broadband grants and may or may not apply to ARRA grants.
• RUS applications have been prioritized based on how rural an area may be (40% of an application’s score), economic need in the proposed area (30% of the score), and the benefits a community may receive if provided with broadband access (30% of the score). (Source: Dow Lohnes)
• While RUS already has established rules and processes, it is worth mentioning that the USDA may adjust some of its rules for ARRA funding. The USDA is encouraging all interested parties to submit feedback through the NTIA web site.
  

SOURCE

Applying for Broadband Grants Through the NTIA

Created by Anna M. Gould (EDUCAUSE) on March 11, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s Broadband Initiative allows two entities to distribute broadband funding: the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) program and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). This post will look at the basics for applying for NTIA grants.

Funding through this program is aimed at improving broadband access in underserved and unserved areas with a special concentration on "community anchor institutions," including schools, public safety organizations, and health care centers. Yesterday, the NTIA posted a notice in the Federal Register asking for feedback on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program. After collecting comments for 30 days, NTIA will issue a Notice of Funding Available, or NOFA. This notice will contain final application rules, which are required before any grant funding may be distributed. It is expected that the agency will issue three NOFAs in order to provide enough time for states and others to complete their applications. NTIA is working on a very short deadline, since they are required to disperse all funding by September 30, 2010.

The NTIA’s “Broadband Technology Opportunities Program” (BTOP) is charged with distributing $4.7 billion, including $350 million for broadband mapping. Eligible applicants include any state, local, territorial or tribal government, as well as non-profit organizations. It is also possible that ISPs, infrastructure providers, and other for-profit ventures may be eligible if they can prove it is in the “public interest,” a term yet to be defined. Yesterday, Bernadette McGuire-Rivera, the Associate Administrator of the NTIA, said many are concerned about the definitions of “unserved” and “underserved” areas. Her agency will be collecting public comments in order to address this, as well as a myriad of other questions and concerns.

More information:

v The first of three notices will likely be released in the April-June timeframe. It is expected that the second window would be in the fall and the last would be in spring of 2010.

v Each state must receive some funding.

v Applicants are encouraged to be concise with both their public comments and applications.

v NTIA plans to award funding through BTOP’s four major areas: broadband mapping, general broadband, community computing and innovative applications.

v Applicants must demonstrate how their project would efficiently use grant money for fulfilling the program’s goals. They must also show that they would be able to complete the project, and provide at least 20 percent of its costs. Finally, applicants must demonstrate that a given project would be impossible if they did not receive a BTOP grant before September 2010.

v Applicants can apply to both the NTIA’s BTOP program, as well as the USDA’s RUS program. There are restrictions, however.

v The rule-making process will be critical, since questions remain about eligibility and grant distribution priorities. No applications will be accepted by the NTIA until grant criteria is established and rules are adopted. That said, McGuire-Rivera recommends that people begin working on their applications now.

***********Tomorrow: Applying for Broadband Grants Through the RUS.****************************

SOURCE

DOWNLOAD FED REGISTER HERE - http://www.ntia.doc.gov/frnotices/2009/FR_BTOP_RFI_090312.pdf

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