Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 145 / Friday, July 27, 2018 / Notices 35609 

Done at Washington, DC, this 19th day of 

July 2018. 

Chavonda Jacobs-Young, 

Acting Under Secretary for Research, 

Education and Economics. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16100 Filed 7–26–18; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

Broadband e-Connectivity Pilot 

Program 

AGENCY: Rural Utilities Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of inquiry and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The Rural Utilities Service 

(RUS), an agency of the United States 

Department of Agriculture, invites 

comment on the implementation of 

certain provisions of its pilot broadband 

program (e-Connectivity Pilot) 

established on March 23, 2018, in the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2018. The e-Connectivity Pilot was 

appropriated $600 million in budget 

authority to be operated under the Rural 

Electrification Act of 1936 on an 

expedited basis. Loans and grants are 

limited to the costs of the construction, 

improvement, and acquisition of 

facilities and equipment for broadband 

service in eligible communities. 

DATES: Comments are due on or before 

5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on 

September 10, 2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, 

identified as e-Connectivity Pilot, by 

either of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and, in the 

lower ‘‘Search Regulations and Federal 

Actions’’ box, select ‘‘Rural Utilities 

Service’’ from the agency drop-down 

menu, then click on ‘‘Submit.’’ In the 

Docket ID column, select RUS–18– 

TELECOM–0004 to submit or view 

public comments and to view 

supporting and related materials 

available electronically. Information on 

using Regulations.gov, including 

instructions for accessing documents, 

submitting comments, and viewing the 

docket after the close of the comment 

period, is available through the site’s 

‘‘User Tips’’ link. 

• Postal Mail/Commercial Delivery: 

Please send your comment addressed to 

Michele Brooks, Rural Development 

Innovation Center, Regulations Team 

Lead, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

1400 Independence Ave. SW, Stop 

1522, Room 1562, Washington, DC 

20250. Please state that your comment 

refers to Docket No. RUS–18– 

TELECOM–0004. 

Other Information: Additional 

information about Rural Development 

and its programs is available on the 

internet at https://www.usda.gov/topics/ 

rural. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 

779 of the Consolidated Appropriations 

Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115–141) 

appropriated $600 million for a pilot 

broadband program (e-Connectivity 

Pilot) to be operated under the Rural 

Electrification Act (RE Act) of 1936 (7 

U.S.C. 901 et seq.). The e-Connectivity 

Pilot was directed to expedite loans and 

grants for the costs of the construction, 

improvement, and acquisition of 

facilities and equipment for broadband 

service in eligible rural areas. Those 

areas are defined as having at least 90 

percent of the households without 

sufficient access to broadband, defined 

as 10 Mbps downstream, and 1 Mbps 

upstream. Applications for eligible rural 

areas are prohibited from over-building 

or duplicating broadband expansion 

efforts made by any entity that has 

received a broadband loan from the 

Rural Utilities Service. Applications 

must also be evaluated by the service 

area assessment requirements of Section 

601(d)(10) of the RE Act (7 U.S.C. 

950bb(d)(10)) so that existing broadband 

providers may provide input on service 

in the proposed service area. In the 

absence of responses, RUS is directed to 

use the most current data of the 

National Broadband Map, or any other 

data regarding the availability of 

broadband service that may be collected 

or obtained through reasonable efforts. 

Notice of Inquiry and Request for 

Comment 

RUS seeks input on several questions 

concerning development of the eConnectivity Pilot. Comments are 

requested from a broad range of 

stakeholders with an interest in rural 

broadband deployment. Specifically, 

RUS seeks comment on the following: 

(1) Eligible rural areas are defined as 

having at least 90 percent of the 

households without sufficient access to 

broadband, defined in the law as 10 

Mbps downstream, and 1 Mbps 

upstream. At present, RUS is working to 

determine what types of technologies 

and services are defined as ‘‘sufficient 

access.’’ In particular, RUS is seeking 

information about the transmission 

capacity required for economic 

development, and speed and latency, 

especially in peak usage hours, to 

ensure rural premises have access to 

coverage similar to that offered in urban 

areas. Comments are specifically 

requested on whether affordability of 

service should be included in evaluating 

whether an area already has ‘‘sufficient 

access’’ and how to benchmark 

affordability of internet services. And if 

so, what equates to consumers’ costs 

being so high that they are effectively 

rendered inaccessible to rural 

households? Further, what other 

elements should RUS consider when 

defining sufficient access? 

(2) RUS uses a combination of a 

Public Notice Filing—Public Notice 

Response process through our online 

mapping tool and the most current data 

of the National Broadband Map, or any 

other data regarding the availability of 

broadband service that may be collected 

or obtained through reasonable efforts. 

RUS’ mapping tool will publicly post 

proposed service territories of 

applicants to allow existing service 

providers an opportunity to comment if 

10 Mbps downstream and 1 Mbps 

upstream service exists for households 

in the proposed service area or not. 

Notwithstanding this data, comments 

are sought on how data speeds are to be 

used or verified, given the limited 

availability of publicly-available 

information regarding accurate 

broadband speeds provided to rural 

households. Additionally, what other 

sources of data availability should be 

used for evaluation? 

(3) RUS is working to ensure that 

projects funded by the e-Connectivity 

pilot provide improvements to rural 

prosperity. This includes projects that 

benefit rural industries such as 

agriculture, manufacturing, e-commerce, 

transportation, health care, and 

education. Comments are specifically 

requested on effective methods that can 

measure leading indicators of potential 

project benefits for these sectors, using 

readily available public data. USDA is 

also aiming to improve rural economies, 

especially for those being served. 

Comments are also being sought on how 

to evaluate the viability of applications 

that include local utility partnership 

arrangements, including locally-owned 

telecommunications companies where 

possible. 

Dated: July 17, 2018. 

Jonathan P. Claffey, 

Senior Policy Advisor, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2018–16014 Filed 7–26–18; 8:45 am] 

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