National Telecommunications and Information Administration

On Monday, September 26, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Director of Research and Fellowships Dr. Revati Prasad hosted an online panel discussion, From the Ground Up: Broadband Mapping By and for Communities, on how communities and states are collecting data on local broadband availability as the Federal Communications Commission rolls out the Broadband Data Collection (BDC) program.

In August 2022, the Federal Communications Commission denied the SpaceX (Starlink) bid to receive $885 million over ten years through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF). The FCC went on to say in the order that there were several technical reasons for the Starlink rejection. Starlink appealed the FCC ruling. Current federal grant rules don’t allow federal subsidies to be given to any area that is slated to get another federal broadband subsidy. This has meant that the RDOF areas have been off-limits to other federal grants since the end of 2020.

The Budget Information section is the third major section of the National Telecommunication and Information Administration's (NTIA) "Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure" application. It is where applicants will have the opportunity to showcase their financial success as well as the sustainability of their project. These areas of consideration will be examined within the budget information portion of the application.

The Project Information section is the second major section of the National Telecommunication and Information Administration's (NTIA) middle mile grant application. This portion provides space for applicants to describe the details and timeline of their project. It includes an executive summary, a “level of need narrative”, and a description of government and community involvement. For a successful application, an applicant must make a binding commitment to prioritize at least one of the following:

There are three phases of application review associated with the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program: Initial, Merit, and Programmatic. During the Initial Review, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) confirms completeness, eligibility, and responsiveness to curing. In Merit Review, applicants will score up to 100 points, and then NTIA will prioritize those applications which average 80 or more points AND meet 2 of the 5 statutory criteria in Programmatic Review.

Thirteen Republican Senators sent a letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) asking the agency to change its approach to administering some of the provisions of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) grants. The letter specifically asked for changes related to rate regulation, technology preference, provider preference, workforce requirements, middle mile deployments, and the application review process (You can read the letter here). It’s

The Lee County (IL) Board is earmarking $1.7 million toward a massive, multi-county project to expand broadband in rural areas. Ogle County (IL) has spearheaded a Broadband for All initiative that’s a public-private partnership to improve broadband access in counties including Ogle and Lee. The partnership is with Syndeo Networks, and the group is applying for a $28 million “Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program” grant through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Lee County’s contribution would be about $1.7 million for more than $11 million

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) will host a workshop in Gillette, WY, on the $48 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding to give everyone in the country internet access. The idea is to give local governments money to expand broadband services in so-called “digital deserts” where high-speed, reliable internet isn’t available. The funding comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The workshop is meant to give Wyoming leaders a heads-up on how to prepare for the funding.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has awarded a $29.3 million Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program (TBCP) grant to the Native Village of Port Lions, Alaska. This grant will fund a new fiber-optic high-speed Internet network capable of Gigabit speeds. The proposed project will directly connect 930 unserved Native American households that previously had no connectivity to high-speed Internet as well as businesses and anchor institutions. NTIA has now made 70 awards totaling $755,737,402.24 in funding through the TBCP.

Rural and Native communities in the US have long had lower rates of cellular and broadband connectivity than urban areas, where four out of every five Americans live. Outside the cities and suburbs, which occupy barely 3% of US land, reliable internet service can still be hard to come by.