Twelfth Quarterly Status Report to Congress Regarding BTOP

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration sent Congress a quarterly report on the status of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

This report focuses on the program’s activities from October 1 to December 31, 2011. BTOP grant recipients collectively exceeded all performance goals established for FY11. Based on these positive results, NTIA established strong targets for FY12, taking into account progress made through FY11 and expected grant recipient performance through September 2012. Through December 2011, the Program has delivered significant progress in areas, such as new fiber-optic infrastructure construction, the opening of new PCCs, and thousands of new broadband subscribers now experiencing the benefits of the high-speed Internet service. Recipients’ quarterly progress reports, which were made public at the beginning of March 2012, provide a more granular depiction of these results.

BTOP recipients reached a significant milestone in late December 2011, surpassing $1 billion in total drawdowns. The first quarter of FY12 also featured a significant increase in overall project spending as BTOP recipients approached the midpoint of their period of performance. During the past quarter, recipients spent more than $415 million of Federal grant funds, matched by recipient funds of more than $145 million. Cumulatively, Federal outlays for the Program totaled $1.2 billion, while total recipient matching contributions exceeded $537 million. Federal outlays increased nearly 55 percent from the previous quarter, and matching funds contributed increased by more than 37 percent.