By Ron Thaniel
July 13, 2009

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) issued a Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) on July 1. The first round – up to $1.6 billion in stimulus Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) funds – are available for award.

Application packages for electronic and paper submissions will be available at http://www.broadbandusa.gov. Applications will be accepted beginning July 14 until August 14. Additional funds will be available in subsequent funding rounds, and all awards must be made no later than September 30, 2010.

Funded at $4.7 billion, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 BTOP provides grants to support the deployment of broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, to enhance broadband capacity at public computer centers, and to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.

The initial $1.6 billion will provide up to $1.2 billion for projects that deliver broadband service to unserved and underserved areas. An unserved area is 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 broadband at the minimum speed of 3Mbps. An underserved area is 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.

In addition, up to $50 million of the $1.6 billion will fund projects that expand computer center capacity at entities that permit the public to use the computer center, such as a community college and public libraries. Also, up to $150 million will fund innovative projects that promote broadband demand, such as projects focused on broadband education, awareness, training, access, equipment or support, particularly among vulnerable populations.

Details are not available regarding grant rounds two and three.

While USCM is pleased that ARRA includes $4.7 billion in broadband grants to support deployment of infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas, the Conference is particularly concerned with a provision in NTIA’s NOFA for round one. Based on the Conference’s initial assessment of the NOFA for BTOP, the nation’s major metropolitan areas are likely to be short-changed in the receipt of stimulus funds for critical community anchor institutions such as schools, libraries, and medical facilities. This also applies to institutions serving vulnerable populations and public safety.

The reason is that the NOFA applies the definition of unserved or underserved to these institutions as opposed to referencing these institutions as freestanding – without reference to the nature of the jurisdiction applying for the award. The bottom-line is that a critical anchor institution in need of broadband funding may not be eligible because the jurisdiction it is within is considered served.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is committed to working with the administration, NTIA, and Congress to correct this in rounds two and three of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

For additional information on the NTIA BTOP NOFA, go to USCM’s MainStreet Economic Recovery website at http://www.usmayors.org/recovery/ or NTIA’s website at http://www.ntia.doc.gov.