Broadband Stimulus Opens With Rural Emphasis

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NTIA offering $1.6 billion of its $4.7 billion allocation in first round of broadband stimulus.


Broadband Stimulus Opens With Rural Emphasis
By Kenneth Corbin
July 1, 2009

The agencies administering the broadband stimulus programs took a big step toward getting that money flowing today, announcing the application guidelines for the first tranche of funding.

The secretaries of Agriculture and Commerce joined Vice President Joe Biden in Erie, Penn., today to kick off what the White House is billing as the National Rural Tour, a whistle-stop junket with future sessions to focus on issues like health care and education.

The long-awaited notice of funding availability (NOFA) released today establishes the application process for $4 billion of the $7.2 billion set aside for broadband projects in the stimulus package, a more aggressive deployment schedule than officials indicated when they announced their roadmap for the stimulus programs in March.

"Today's announcement is a first step toward realizing President Obama's vision of a nationwide 21st century communications infrastructure -- one that encourages economic growth, enhances America's global competitiveness and helps address many of America's most pressing challenges," Biden said.

The programs are being administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a division of the Commerce Department, and Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The statute allocated $4.7 billion to NTIA and $2.5 billion to RUS, but the agencies said today that they will review applications submitted through a common form.

The first round of funding is heavily weighted toward rural connectivity, with RUS making available about $2.4 billion of grants and loans, and NTIA offering just $1.6 billion, leaving the bulk of its share available for future application periods...
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Broadband Stimulus Rules (NoFA)

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