Posts Tagged ‘BTOP’
Legislation to Rescind Unused and Reclaimed Broadband Stimulus Funds Introduced
Posted on April 7, 2011Congressman Charlie Bass (R-NH) has introduced a bill (H.R.1343) to return to the U.S. Treasury unused or reclaimed funds that were made available for broadband awards in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) in either the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) or the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The bill would also require the Rural Utilities Service Administrator and the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information to terminate any BIP or BTOP award where cause for termination was determined (e.g., noncompliance with award terms, improper usage, insufficient level of performance, wasteful or fraudulent spending). According to a report from Congressman Bass’s office, the bill has passed the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and now awaits a vote in the full House of Representatives.
Report Notes Potential Broadband Stimulus Oversight Challenges
Posted on November 9, 2010The Commerce Department’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a final report on NTIA’s efforts to establish an effective post-award process for its broadband stimulus program. NTIA awarded nearly $4 billion in grants to over 230 recipients through its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)—the largest grants program NTIA has ever managed. However, BTOP currently has no source of federal funding after December 3, 2010. The lack of funds could prevent proper oversight of funded projects, jeopardizing the overall purpose and success of the broadband stimulus program. Additionally, despite a potential lack of funding, the OIG report determines NTIA needs to strengthen its post-award monitoring and oversight practices.
Commerce Department Announces Final Broadband Stimulus Awards
Posted on September 28, 2010The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced the final broadband stimulus awards made under the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The 14 final awards, totaling $206.8 million in grants, are comprised of two infrastructure awards, six public computer center awards, and six sustainable broadband adoption awards.
Altogether, the Commerce Department awarded 233 projects in every state under NTIA’s BTOP. A majority of the awards went to middle-mile projects to connect communities and anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries and hospitals. NTIA and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) were tasked with administering roughly $7.2 billion in Recovery Act funding to expand broadband Internet access and adoption of broadband across the country. RUS has not officially announced whether it has finished making awards. The final deadline to award funding is September 30, 2010. A few of the notable final BTOP awards include:
Infrastructure. California: Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications Systems Authority received a $154.6 million grant to fund deployment of an interoperable wireless public safety broadband network across Los Angeles County.
Public Computer Center. California: Monterey County Office of Education received a $3.6 million grant to fund approximately three new and 26 upgraded public computer centers.
Sustainable Broadband Adoption. California: City and County of San Francisco received a $7.9 million grant to fund a project to provide broadband-related training to seniors, low-income individuals, and others in economically and socially vulnerable groups.
Commerce Department Announces $482 Million in Broadband Stimulus Grants
Posted on September 14, 2010The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced 35 new broadband stimulus awards for projects under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) to increase high-speed Internet access across the country. The awards—$482.4 million in grants—will fund 10 projects to increase the deployment of broadband infrastructure, 11 projects to enhance and expand public computer centers, and 14 projects to encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service.
The announcement is part of the second round of BTOP funding, which must be completed by the statutory deadline of September 30, 2010. So far, 216 BTOP grants have been awarded. Information on all 35 awards can be found online here. A few of the notable awards include:
- Colorado: Centennial Board of Cooperative Educational Services received a $100.6 million grant to offer middle-mile broadband service, with a particular focus on serving rural and underserved school districts.
- Connecticut: The Department of Information Technology received a $93.9 million grant to deploy over 5,500 miles of fiber network to upgrade and expand existing broadband infrastructure and improve the state’s public safety and educational services.
- Montana: Ronan Telephone Company received a $13.8 million grant to offer middle-mile broadband service across northwest Montana, including several tribal regions.
- New York: The City of New York received a $13.9 million grant to improve public computer centers throughout the city.
NTIA and RUS Announce Latest Broadband Stimulus Awards
Posted on August 19, 2010The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have announced $1.8 billion in broadband stimulus awards. The grants and loans will fund 94 broadband projects in 37 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Native American tribal areas.
The Department of Agriculture’s RUS made 28 awards under its Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) for broadband infrastructure and satellite projects to improve Internet access, and the Commerce Department’s NTIA awarded 66 grants under its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) for projects to deploy broadband infrastructure, upgrade public computer centers, and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service. A complete list of the new broadband stimulus awards is available online here. A few of the big winners include:
- California: received roughly $203 million in grants and loans to fund three middle mile projects, a public safety project, and two sustainable broadband adoption projects.
- Arkansas: received a $102 million grant for the University of Arkansas System’s middle mile project to enhance existing broadband networks and connect community institutions.
- Alabama: received roughly $120 million in grants and loans for four middle mile projects, a fiber-to-the-premises project, and one sustainable broadband adoption
- Satellite Providers: received roughly $100 million to offer satellite broadband service to rural residential and commercial subscribers nationwide, including Alaska and Hawaii.
- Public Safety: roughly $215 million will go to projects in five states to deploy interoperable wireless public safety broadband networks.
- Windstream: received roughly $60 million in grants to extend its network in 3 states to provide broadband service to unserved homes and businesses.
Congress Cuts $302 Million From Broadband Stimulus Program
Posted on August 12, 2010The U.S. Congress has cut $302 million in broadband stimulus funds as part of a $26 billion emergency state funding package. The $302 million will be cut from the broadband stimulus funds managed by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). NTIA administers the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The state funding package, H.R. 1586, which primarily provides funding to states for education and Medicaid, was signed by President Obama on August 10th.
Senator Murray Introduces $4B BIP and BTOP Extension Bill
Posted on August 12, 2010Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) has introduced legislation into Congress intended to improve broadband coverage and service in rural and tribal areas as well as improve spectrum coverage for public safety broadband communications services. Specifically, the Broadband Program Reauthorization Act of 2010 (S.3710) will amend Title VI of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 and Section 6001 of Public Law 111-5 by extending the grants, loan and loan guarantee provisions first introduced under the Rural Utilities Service’s Broadband Initiatives Program and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program. Sen. Murray’s proposed legislation would appropriate an additional $2 billion dollars to each program for fiscal year 2011 and “such sums as necessary for each fiscal year thereafter.” RUS grants, loans and loan guarantees would be made available to proposals with at least 75 percent of the area designated as “rural,” with priority to those projects where the end user will have a choice of more than one provider. BTOP funding would be eligible to go to public safety agencies that have received waivers from the FCC to build out wireless broadband networks using 10 megahertz of spectrum from the Public Safety Spectrum Trust. In order to fund the BIP and BTOP extensions, and in an effort to comply with the “pay go” principle of deficit neutrality, the proposed legislation includes changes to the tax code that would eliminate oil and gas well tax breaks. The bill, which currently has no co-sponsors, was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance for further deliberation.
NTIA Announces Limited BTOP Application Window for Broadband Projects to Improve Public Safety Communications
Posted on May 18, 2010The FCC recently issued an Order granting conditional approval of 21 petitions filed by cities, counties and states that requested waivers to begin constructing regional and statewide interoperable wireless broadband networks in the 700 MHz public safety band. NTIA has announced it will be opening a broadband technology opportunities program (BTOP) application window to provide an opportunity to these state and local governments only to apply for broadband stimulus funding to support projects using the 700 MHz public safety broadband spectrum. NTIA will be accepting applications for infrastructure projects from the affected parties from June 1, 2010 to July 1, 2010.