By Kelly Hill
As the federal government gears up to distribute the US$65 billion in broadband funding that was passed in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has set up a series of webinars to inform prospective applicants about the process.
The US$1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal that signed into law late last year will put US$65 billion into broadband expansion, affordability and middle-mile infrastructure.
The bill dedicates more than US$42 billion in funding that will be directed to states in order to ensure that broadband is deployed to rural and inadequately served areas, including Tribal areas. It also sets aside around US$14.2 billion to address broadband affordability through subsidies, and promote digital equity and digital literacy training.
The specific programmes that were authorized and funded by the IIJA include:
–The Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, which allocates US$42.45 billion for states and territories for broadband deployment, mapping and adoption projects. Each state, D.C., and P.R. will receive an initial allocation of US$100 million, and US$100 million will be divided equally among the US Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. The rest of the funds will be distributed based on the number of high-cost and unserved locations in the state of territory, with “unserved” considered to be those with no service or service slower than 25/3 Mbps. States and territories must submit a five-year action plan on how they will use the funds.
-The Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Programme, which puts US$1 billion in play to for “construction, improvement or acquisition” of middle-mile infrastructure that connects local or regional networks to the rest of the internet. Parties eligible to apply for these funds include not just government or Tribal entities, but telecom and technology companies, utilities, non-profits, regional planning councils and economic development authorities.
-The Digital Equity Act programmes, which include the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Programme (US$60 million grant programme to assist states and territories in developing plans focused on digital equity), the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Programme (US$1.44 billion in grants to states and territories over five years to support implementation of digital equity plans) and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Programme (US$1.25 billion in competitive grants over five years, for projects that implement digital equity and for which non-profits, community institutions, educational agencies and workforce development entities are also eligible).
NTIA will host a series of five webinars from early March to early May that provide technical assistance to would-be applicants on how to prepare their applications. More information is available here.
NTIA is also currently hosting a series of virtual “listening sessions” in which it provides information about the programme parameters, and gathers questions and feedback about the funding programs, before they officially kick off.
