The Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) for the broadband portion of the Recovery Act has been released. In the 121-page document (pdf), the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) will dole out some $7.2 billion in broadband grants and loans. Arstechnica has a good summary of the highlights.
The Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) is looking for projects that fit into three categories: Broadband Infrastructure, Public Computer Centers, and Sustainable Broadband Adoption. The Department of Agriculture’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) will distribute grants and loans to broadband projects for areas that are at least 75 percent rural and lack “sufficient access”. In this first round of applications, closing on August 14, 2009, some $4 billion will be available: $2.4 billion for BIP and $1.6 for BTOP. There are two more rounds still to come.
RUS and NTIA conclude that “broadband service” should be defined as the provision of two-way data transmission with advertised speeds of at least 768 kilobits per second (kbps) downstream and 200 kbps upstream to end users.
The RUS and NTIA say this broadband speed facilitates the use of many currently common broadband applications (e.g., web browsing, VOIP, and one-way video), allows for consideration of cost-effective solutions for difficult-to-serve areas, and is the most technology-neutral option (because it encompasses all major wired and wireless technologies).
Companies will have to follow the FCC’s Net neutrality policy, which prohibits companies from deliberately blocking or slowing Internet traffic on their networks so that competitors are not run out of business by network operators, explains C/Net.
The government will accept applications from private firms, nonprofit groups, and state and local governments for the first allotment of $4 billion from July 14 through Aug. 14. The winners will be announced in early November, and the grants are expected to be distributed within 30 days. The other two rounds of funding are expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2010.
USTelecom, the broadband lobbying arm of big phone companies like Verizon and AT&T, said it was still analyzing requirements, but didn’t like the “open access” provisions. “We are concerned that some of the new mandates seem to go well beyond current laws and FCC rules,” USTelecom President Walter McCormick said.
“Clearwire has made no decision regarding broadband stimulus funding,” a company spokesperson told Unstrung.
Craig Settles has a preliminary take on the rules and their potential impact.
The Obama Administration is committed to the $7.2 billion “broadband stimulus” provisions of the Recovery Act. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, are key figures in its administration.
Secretaries Locke and Vilsack head the federal departments which are mandated by Congress to disperse the $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus monies prior to October 1, 2010. The Recovery Act directed the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) to expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the U.S. The result is the RUS Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
Applications will be accepted beginning July 14, 2009, through 5:00 p.m. EDT on August 14, 2009. The complete details of this Notice of Funding Availability are available at http://www.broadbandusa.gov.
