Seventeenth Quarterly Status Report to Congress Regarding BTOP

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) provides this Quarterly Report on the status of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP or Program). This Report focuses on the Program’s activities from January 1 to March 31, 2013.

As of March 31, 2013, 182 BTOP projects remained in active status, and 42 BTOP projects had completed their project activities. BTOP recipients deployed more than 6,500 network miles during the past quarter, bringing the total number of miles to more than 93,000. Through March 2013, recipients were deploying infrastructure in 47 states, four territories, and the District of Columbia. NTIA expects the pace of network construction to remain strong through summer 2013. BTOP recipients connected approximately 1,800 community anchor institutions, which is an increase of 15 percent from last quarter and brings the total number of institutions connected to more than 14,000 across 44 states, 3 territories, and the District of Columbia. Through March 2013, 65 BTOP recipients installed more than 42,000 new workstations in Public Computer Centers (PCCs) across 38 states, one territory, and the District of Columbia. Recipients installing workstations also continue to develop and implement training programs and educational courses. During the quarter, PCCs provided 1.13 million hours of training to 340,000 users. Through March 2013, Sustainable Broadband Adoption (SBA) grant recipients reported that nearly 540,000 households and 4,800 businesses subscribed to broadband services, many of whom received digital literacy or job training. During the second quarter of FY13, BTOP recipients spent more than $194 million in federal grant funds. These funds were matched by recipient contributions of nearly $85 million. Cumulatively, federal outlays for the Program totaled $2.8 billion through March 31, 2013, while total recipient matching contributions exceeded $1.1 billion.