NTIA/RUS Decide on One More Round of Broadband Funding
Nov 10, 2009
The two federal agencies in charge of the Recovery Act's $7.2 billion in broadband funding programs, USDA's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), confirmed today that they will consolidate the two remaining funding rounds into one final round in an attempt to streamline the process.
About 2,200 applications totaling $28 billion in requests were received this summer as part of the first round of funding, and the agencies expect to award the winners grants and loans worth up to $4 billion starting next month.
Before they begin accepting requests for the final tranche of money some time early next year though, RUS and NTIA are seeking public comment to try and improve the application and funding process.
In their joint Request for Information issued this morning, program administrators Jonathan Adelstein and Larry Strickling outlined a series of questions that they're considering. The topics cover everything from how they should define "unserved," "underserved" and "remote" areas to how much applicant information should be made available to the public.
There's a 14-day period for commenting and you can submit your responses to NTIA via email. A copy of the RFI is available here (PDF file); see page 9 for more specifics on how to file a comment.
Tags:
ARRA, broadband, BTOP, Jonathan Adelstein, Larry Strickling, NTIA, Recovery Act, rural broadband, RUS
