South Carolina Broadband Office Announces New Grant Opportunity

The South Carolina Broadband Office (SCBBO) created a $100 million grant program based upon the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Capital Projects Fund (CPF). Designated as ARPA CPF 1.0, this new program is the fourth major tranche of South Carolina broadband investments. It maintains priority focus on unserved census blocks 1) with large numbers of K-12 students or 2) that are in difficult development areas or 3) that are without an internet service provider (ISP). In addition, ARPA CPF 1.0 introduces a priority focus on remaining unserved Main Street communities. The ARPA CPF 1.0 Project Plan, which was recently approved by the US Treasury, requires the highest federal construction standards at 100 Mbps symmetric service (100 Mbps download / 100 Mbps upload) throughout all funded areas. The SCBBO will take applications for ARPA CPF 1.0 from May 15 to July 15, 2023, and final awards are planned for announcement in November 2023. A preliminary Eligibility Map that reflects all known unserved Broadband Serviceable Locations (BSLs) was made available to eligible ISPs on May 1, 2023, so that they may challenge designations.