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

Can't Argue, when you're right you're right Stephen!

Another great write up, this time by our friends at EzineArticles.com Thomas William VP Partner Solutions Broadband in a Box 1302 Clear Springs Trace Louisville Kentucky 40223 Direct: (502) 426.2067 Toll Free: (800) 761.9149 Fax: (502) 515.3710 Email: tomw@bbinabox.com # # # # # # # # # One Way Satellite Internet Service By Stephen Long

It can be nearly impossible to get good high speed Internet access if you don't live near a city. When you do find that access, it often turns out to be far too expensive. If you feel like you're being punished with lack of access, just because you happen to live in a rural area, you're not alone. Over 25 million Americans living outside the range of DSL and cable feel the same way.

The good news is that a growing number of providers also agree with you. They think that every rural American deserves to have reliable access to broadband speed Internet services, including affordable, efficient satellite Internet access and a service that's friendly and helpful.

You should have the high speed satellite Internet access you've waiting for, no matter who you are and where you live. Even if you're one of the twenty-five million people living outside the DSL and cable service area, you can have access to all your favorite pages without the wait.

One way satellite Internet service uses satellite technology to download data to all 48 contiguous states at high speeds. You'll get your equipment cheaply, too - there's no need to pay the high prices for equipment and installation that come with two-way satellite access.

Equipment purchases start at forty-nine dollars, and annual plans for services are less than thirty dollars each month. That's cheaper than many cable plans, and comparable to a number of DSL service plans. Installation can be done on your own, and takes only a few hours. Otherwise, you can use some of the installers offered by your network. This reliable, affordable service is the solution to your high speed Internet woes.

One way satellite Internet access is a simpler system that offers a better online experience than two way satellite Internet systems. Unlike two-way services, these systems use your phone line as the request path. You won't need complicated, expensive equipment for two way transmissions, that way. This type of system gives you the ability to install the system on your own, lower latency, and significantly reduced rain fade.

Unlike two-way satellite Internet service, one way systems almost never go down. Don't worry about rain or heavy cloud cover - you'll have access to the sites you love. This service is reliable and affordable, and available in all of the lower 48 - no American will have to go without access to broadband speed Internet.

You'll enjoy on-demand movie downloads, streaming video and music, and the ability to do remote study for school. You can watch online TV and enjoy an interactive experience - much more than you can do with dialup! Don't wait any longer for your high-res images, flash animations, video, or updated software. DSL and cable have left you behind, but you don't have to go without Internet service just because of where you live.

Can't get cable or DSL. Set up your home with Skyway's high speed Satellite Internet Access. Skyway USA offers affordable satellite Internet access plans to rural America. Get the speed that you deserve for as low as $29.95 PER month!

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Dial-Up Internet Isn't Going Away--For Now

Here's a little update on the state of the diaup industry from our friends at PCWorld.com, enjoy!

Thomas William

VP Partner Solutions

Broadband in a Box

1302 Clear Springs Trace

Louisville Kentucky 40223

Direct: (502) 426.2067

Toll Free: (800) 761.9149

Fax: (502) 515.3710

Email: tomw@bbinabox.com

# # # #

Virtually every Internet service provider uses dial-up networking to connect individuals to the Internet. Most recognizable are the larger, national information services and ISPs. Companies such as America Online, EarthLink, AT&T WorldNet, and MSN have become household names in the past ten years, and offer nearly universal service in the United States (and often provide international access as well). Each of the big guns offers its own brand of interface, built on dial-up networking, with varying levels of customization and proprietary features.

But there are often a few gotchas if you use an information service's customized interface: Some limit the user's access to Internet resources that are not part of the service's offerings. America Online, for instance, boasts the greatest number of subscribers among ISPs and information services. AOL offers those subscribers a wide range of clubs, user groups, and file libraries. There's so much to do that many AOL subscribers know only how to use those features and services exclusively within AOL's borders, rendering them unable to "leave the nest," so to speak.

On the other hand, more and more subscribers would prefer to use such subscriptions only to connect to the Internet. You can, for instance, simply use AOL as an ISP, but few users do that.

Small ISPs Provide Big Service

Smaller, local ISPs frequently offer more competitive rates, less restrictive interfaces, and a different selection (and usually a higher standard) of service options. "Local," though, doesn't necessarily mean their use is geographically limited. Often they use the same "head-end" network, such as the GRIC Alliance, as the largest providers do, and this can give local ISPs nationwide (or even worldwide) access numbers. EarthLink and MSN, for example, use the same dialing network; so can the little ISPs with big aspirations.

There are free Internet service providers, too, which offer basic connections through their user interface. The trend has been for the free ISPs to serve up a lot of ads in that interface, and little or no tech support if something goes wrong. More recently, these services have begun charging fees for services.

Rosy Future for Dial-Up Networking

Dial-up networking is a mature technology; over the past few years, incremental technology improvements have improved performance, but not by a significant amount. The last major improvement in dial-up was the release of the V.90 standard, which allowed modems that used either of two previously incompatible standards to connect to each other. As a result, most modems are able to connect at or near their rated maximum of 56 kbps.

(The 56-kbps modem specification actually translates to a real-world cap of about 52 kbps, and a realistic maximum throughput averaging about 40 kbps. The quality of the copper phone wire and the phone jack being used, the distance from the user to the phone company's central office, and the Internet's and individual Web sites' level of traffic all factor into the apparent performance.)

A new standard, tentatively named V.92, promises to improve upstream rates by using pulse code modulation, a more efficient method of grabbing and packaging data for transmission. This standard also adds convenience features. With V.92, users who subscribe to a call-waiting service from their phone company will be able to initiate or take a voice call without losing an established data connection to the Internet--long the bane of analog modem users. Another V.92 feature, called QuickConnect, remembers handshake information between your modem and dial-up service, cutting the connection time almost in half.

With new compression technologies on the horizon that promise to improve performance by using a smaller share of the wire to transfer given data, and V.92's convenience features, it looks like the demise of dial-up networking, at least for now, has moved further out on the horizon.

Nathan Garcia is a freelance technology writer based in the San Francisco area and the host of On Computers, a radio call-in show that helps listeners fix computer problems.

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