Guidance on Proposals for NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration's Notice of Funding (NOFO) for their new Broadband Infrastructure Progam provides a complicated definition for eligible service areas. Here is our analysis of the NOFO protocols on data usage and mapping for program proposals:

• NTIA consults the National Broadband Availability Map (NBAM) when considering proposals, adding state-provided data and speed test data to the old 477 maps.
• NBAM maps are not public, although you can access them if your state is an NBAM participant. To see if your state is participating in NBAM, click here.
• The proposed service areas can be part of census blocks and do not have to be contiguous. Middle-mile infrastructure is eligible for funding, so the boundaries for the proposed funding service areas drawn by you and your partner(s) can consist of clusters if they’re connected by middle-mile.
• Including some served locations in your proposal should not be a problem. NTIA’s criteria for an unserved area is that at least one address in a census block is unserved, but a higher number of unserved addresses, as well as a high unserved-to-served ratio, will positively impact the project’s score.
• Fixed wireless coverage counts for BIP could potentially eliminate a census block from funding since physical inspection is difficult and field testing is unreliable. If you have independent speed test or survey data to document no service, below-average broadband speeds, and/or unreliable service, your project will be less vulnerable to exaggerated fixed wireless provider claims.
• Prior federal or state broadband funding in a census block does not necessarily preclude an area from consideration but must be disclosed in the grant application. A census block that has been previously funded with state or federal funds such as the Connect America Fund II would not—if there are still unserved households—preclude an applicant from including such an area, but it could weaken the overall score of the project and could potentially exclude it.