USDA, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ANNOUNCE BROADBAND FUNDING
News Date July 15, 2009
The first cycle of funding for the broadband portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has been announced. The first Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) covers $4 billion. The timeline for signups for loans, grants or a combination of both is from July 14 through August 14. The act is intended to provide broadband internet service to rural areas and communities that are currently underserved and un-served.
The funding is from two sources: USDA’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the Department of Commerce’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). BIP was established to facilitate broadband deployment in rural areas and BTOP was established for deploying broadband infrastructure in un-served and underserved areas and increasing broadband access at public computing centers.
The Department of Commerce and USDA will be holding public workshops on the programs during July in Birmingham, Alabama; Memphis, Tennessee; Lonoke, Arkansas; Billings, Montana; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Los Angeles, California. More information on the NOFA and the workshops is available at www.broadbandusa.gov. (Contact: Nathan Bowen or Sean McCarver)