APPLICANTS FOR BROADBAND STIMULUS GRANTS HAVE NEW ONLINE TOOL

News Date January 12, 2010

To help facilitate partnerships for the application process for broadband grant programs, which are funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the Stimulus), the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) rolled out a new online tool, BroadbandMatch.

According to USDA, this new tool was established to assist interested applicants in discovering partners “to combine expertise and create stronger proposals.” Interested companies, nonprofits, state or local governments and expert individuals in the NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) or RUS’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) should visit http://match.broadbandusa.gov. Rules for the final round of funding for the BTOP and BIP programs are expected in the near future. (Contact: David Hickey)