33104 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Notices 

1See Rehabilitation Act of 1973 § 508, 29 U.S.C. 

794d. 

2American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009, Public Law 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009). 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Utilities Service 

RIN 0572–ZA01 

Broadband Initiatives Program 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Telecommunications and 

Information Administration 

RIN 0660–ZA28 

Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program 

AGENCIES: Rural Utilities Service (RUS), 

Department of Agriculture, and National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration (NTIA), Department of 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice of Funds Availability 

(NOFA) and solicitation of applications. 

SUMMARY: RUS and NTIA announce 

general policy and application 

procedures for broadband initiatives 

established pursuant to the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Recovery Act). RUS is establishing the 

Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) 

which may extend loans, grants, and 

loan/grant combinations to facilitate 

broadband deployment in rural areas. 

NTIA is establishing the Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program 

(BTOP) which makes available grants 

for deploying broadband infrastructure 

in unserved and underserved areas in 

the United States, enhancing broadband 

capacity at public computer centers, and 

promoting sustainable broadband 

adoption projects. In facilitating the 

expansion of broadband 

communications services and 

infrastructure, both programs will 

advance the objectives of the Recovery 

Act to spur job creation and stimulate 

long-term economic growth and 

opportunity. 

DATES: Applications will be accepted 

between July 14, 2009, at 8 a.m. Eastern 

Time (ET) until August 14, 2009, at 5 

p.m. ET. 

Application Submission: The 

application packages for electronic and 

paper submissions will be available at 

http://www.broadbandusa.gov. 

Electronic submissions: Electronic 

submissions of applications will allow 

for the expeditious review of an 

applicant’s proposal consistent with the 

goals of the Recovery Act. As a result, 

all applicants requesting more than $1 

million in assistance (in the form of 

grants, loans, or a combination of grants 

and loans) must file their application 

electronically. Applicants whose 

authorized representatives are 

individuals with disabilities, however, 

may submit a paper application 

irrespective of the funding size of their 

request.1 In addition, applicants who 

are requesting less than $1 million in 

assistance may forego the electronic 

filing requirement if filing electronically 

would impose a hardship on the 

applicant. Electronic applications must 

be submitted by 5 p.m. ET on August 

14, 2009. The government electronic 

application system will provide a date 

and time stamped confirmation number 

that will serve as proof of submission. 

Paper submissions: Applicants 

requesting less than $1 million in 

assistance (in the form of grants, loans, 

or a combination of grants and loans) 

may file their applications in a paper 

format if filing electronically would 

impose a hardship on the applicants. 

Applicants whose authorized 

representatives are individuals with 

disabilities may file their applications in 

a paper format irrespective of the 

funding size of their request. To the 

extent that applicants use electronic 

word processing software to create 

paper submissions, they should include 

in their filing, to the extent possible, an 

electronic copy of the paper application 

on an appropriate media such as a CD. 

This will assist the agencies in 

processing paper applications. Paper 

submissions must be postmarked no 

later than August 14, 2009, or handdelivered no later than 5 p.m. ET on 

August 14, 2009, to the addresses listed 

in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION in 

this NOFA. 

Contact Information: For general 

inquiries regarding BIP, contact David J. 

Villano, Assistant Administrator 

Telecommunications Program, Rural 

Utilities Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA), e-mail: 

bip@wdc.usda.gov telephone: (202) 690– 

0525. For general inquiries regarding 

BTOP, contact Anthony Wilhelm, 

Deputy Associate Administrator, 

Infrastructure Division, Office of 

Telecommunications and Information 

Applications, National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce (DOC), email: 

btop@ntia.doc.gov, telephone: (202) 

482–2048. For inquiries regarding BIP 

and BTOP compliance requirements, 

including applicable federal rules and 

regulations protecting against fraud, 

waste and abuse, contact 

bipcompliance@wdc.usda.gov for BIP 

and btopcompliance@ntia.doc.gov for 

BTOP. You may obtain additional 

information regarding applications for 

BIP via the Internet at http:// 

www.usda.gov/rus/telecom/ and for 

BTOP at http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ 

broadbandgrants/. 

Authority: This notice is issued 

pursuant to the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 

111–5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009) and the 

Rural Electrification Act of 1936, 7 

U.S.C. 901 et seq. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance (CFDA) Number: Broadband 

Initiatives Program (BIP)—10.787; 

Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program (BTOP)—11.557. 

Additional Items in Supplementary 

Information 

I. Overview: Describes the purposes of the 

Recovery Act, the broadband goals of the 

Recovery Act, and the establishment of BIP 

and BTOP. 

II. Funding Opportunity Description: 

Provides a more thorough description of BIP 

and BTOP. 

III. Definitions: Sets forth the key statutory 

terms and other terms used in BIP and BTOP. 

IV. Award Information: Describes funding 

availability, grant and loan terms, as 

applicable, and other award information. 

V. Eligibility Information for BIP and 

BTOP: Establishes eligibility criteria, 

eligibility factors, eligible and ineligible 

costs, and other eligibility requirements. 

VI. Application and Submission 

Information: Provides information regarding 

how to apply, application materials, and the 

application process. 

VII. Application Review Information: 

Establishes the evaluation criteria for 

application review. 

VIII. Anticipated Announcement and 

Award Dates: Identifies the initial 

announcement date for certain awards, and 

provides other information regarding BIP and 

BTOP. 

IX. Award Administration Information: 

Provides award notice information, 

administrative and national policy 

requirements, terms and conditions, and 

other reporting requirements for award 

recipients. 

X. Other Information: Sets forth guidance 

on funding, compliance with various laws, 

confidentiality, discretionary awards, and 

authorized signatures. 

I. Overview 

On February 17, 2009, President 

Obama signed the American Recovery 

and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery 

Act) into law.2 The essential goal of the 

Recovery Act is to provide a ‘‘direct 

fiscal boost to help lift our Nation from 

the greatest economic crisis in our 

lifetimes and lay the foundation for 


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Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Notices 33105 

3President Obama, Statement on Signing the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

(Feb. 17, 2009). 

4Recovery Act § 3(a), 123 Stat. at 115–16. 

5See id. § 3(b), 123 Stat. at 116. 

6See Technology Opportunities Program, http:// 

www.ntia.doc.gov/otiahome/top/index.html; NTIA 

Organization Act of 1992, 47 U.S.C. 901 et seq. 

7See Joint Notice of Public Meeting, 74 FR 8914 

(Feb. 27, 2009). 

8See Joint Request for Information and Notice of 

Public Meetings, 74 FR 10716 (Mar. 12, 2009). 

9Agendas, transcripts, and presentations from 

each meeting are available on NTIA’s Web site at: 

http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/ 

meetings.html. 

10Comments may be viewed on NTIA’s Web site 

at: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/broadbandgrants/ 

comments. 

11 See Recovery Act div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 118. 

12See id. div. A, tit. II, 123 Stat. at 128. 

future growth.’’ 3 Accordingly, the 

Recovery Act identifies five overall 

purposes: A. To preserve and create jobs 

and promote economic recovery; B. to 

assist those most impacted by the 

recession; C. to provide investments 

needed to increase economic efficiency 

by spurring technological advances in 

science and health; D. to invest in 

transportation, environmental 

protection, and other infrastructure that 

will provide long-term economic 

benefits; and E. to stabilize state and 

local government budgets.4 The 

Recovery Act further instructs the 

President and the heads of federal 

departments and agencies to manage 

and expend Recovery Act funds to 

achieve these five purposes, 

‘‘commencing expenditures and 

activities as quickly as possible 

consistent with prudent management.’’ 5

Consistent with the purposes 

described above, the Recovery Act 

provides RUS and NTIA with $7.2 

billion to expand access to broadband 

services in the United States. In so 

doing, it recognizes the growing 

importance of access to broadband 

services to economic development and 

to the quality of life of all Americans. 

Specifically, the Recovery Act tasks 

RUS, NTIA, and the Federal 

Communications Commission (FCC) 

with leading the federal government’s 

efforts to begin the process of 

significantly expanding the reach and 

quality of broadband services. 

RUS, NTIA, and the FCC have worked 

closely to leverage the authorities and 

resources provided in the Recovery Act 

to develop a coordinated federal 

government approach to addressing the 

challenge of rapidly expanding the 

access and quality of broadband services 

across the country. Each agency brings 

unique skills and resources to this 

effort. RUS has been the federal 

government leader in bringing 

telecommunications to rural America 

for decades. NTIA has experience in 

awarding technology-related grants 

through the Technology Opportunities 

Program and serves as the President’s 

principal advisor on 

telecommunications and information 

policies.6 And NTIA and the FCC 

together are responsible for the 

development of federal 

telecommunications policy. 

Additionally, to aid in achieving 

Recovery Act objectives, on March 10, 

2009, RUS, NTIA, and the FCC cosponsored a public meeting to initiate 

public outreach about the current 

availability of broadband service in the 

United States and ways in which the 

availability of broadband services could 

be expanded.7 The March 10 meeting 

was followed by the release of a Request 

for Information (RFI) and six days of 

additional public meetings and field 

hearings during March.8 The meetings 

and hearings included nearly 120 

panelists—including representatives 

from consumer and public interest 

groups, state and local governments, 

tribal governments, minority and 

vulnerable populations, industry, 

academia, and other institutions—who 

provided comment on how to make 

RUS’s and NTIA’s broadband initiatives 

effective, equitable, and efficient.9

In response to the RFI and the public 

meetings, RUS and NTIA received over 

1,000 comments from institutions and 

individuals.10 RUS and NTIA received 

comments on multiple issues 

surrounding BIP and BTOP, including 

how the terms ‘‘broadband,’’ ‘‘unserved 

area,’’ and ‘‘underserved area’’ should 

be defined, resulting in the definitions 

and program requirements announced 

in this NOFA. These comments played 

a crucial role in formulating the 

structure of the RUS and NTIA 

broadband programs. For further 

discussion and explanation of the 

agencies’ reliance on the public 

comments in the policy decisions 

involved in BIP and BTOP, see the 

attached Policy Justification found in 

the Appendix at the end of this NOFA. 

RUS and NTIA Recovery Act 

programs implement new authorities. 

Specifically, the Recovery Act expands 

RUS’s existing authority to make loans 

and provides new authority to make 

grants to facilitate broadband 

deployment in rural areas. The Recovery 

Act appropriates $2.5 billion of budget 

authority for RUS to extend loans, loan/ 

grant combinations, and grants to 

projects where at least 75 percent of an 

RUS-funded area is in a rural area that 

lacks sufficient access to high speed 

broadband service to facilitate rural 

economic development. RUS has 

developed BIP to fund broadband 

infrastructure in qualifying areas.11

The Recovery Act also appropriates 

$4.7 billion to NTIA to provide grants 

for broadband initiatives throughout the 

United States, including unserved and 

underserved areas.12 NTIA is tasked to 

spur job creation, stimulate long-term 

economic growth and opportunity, and 

narrow gaps in broadband deployment 

and adoption. The NTIA program is 

titled BTOP. Consistent with its 

appropriation, BTOP is divided into 

three categories of projects: Broadband 

Infrastructure, Public Computer Centers, 

and Sustainable Broadband Adoption. 

Applications to fund broadband 

infrastructure projects in areas which 

are at least 75 percent rural are required 

to be submitted to RUS for 

consideration under BIP. If such 

applicants intending to serve rural areas 

also choose to be considered for BTOP 

funding, then they must complete the 

additional elements required of BTOP 

infrastructure applicants. NTIA may 

make awards to such applications NTIA 

determines to be meritorious after RUS 

has reviewed the application and 

determined not to fund it. All other 

applications for Broadband 

Infrastructure projects, as well as 

applications for Public Computer 

Centers or Sustainable Broadband 

Adoption projects, must be submitted to 

NTIA for consideration under BTOP. 

The purpose of this NOFA is to 

describe the availability of the BIP and 

BTOP funds and set forth the 

application requirements for those 

entities wishing to participate in one or 

more of the Recovery Act’s broadband 

programs. Applicants may submit 

projects that fit within one or more 

categories. Each application will be 

compared against objective criteria to 

determine whether an award is 

warranted. 

In order to balance the burdens on 

applicants versus the needs of the 

agencies to efficiently evaluate 

applications, RUS and NTIA have 

developed a two-step application 

process. In step one, the goal is to create 

a pool of viable and potentially fundable 

applications. Step two is to fully 

validate the submissions in step one and 

identify the most highly qualified 

applications for funding. 

Rapid disbursement of the funds 

available under this program is 

important because of the short time 

frames imposed by the Recovery Act. 

Additionally, a commitment to 

transparency in the award process and 


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13 Id. div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 118. 

14 Id. at 118–19. 

15See id. § 6001(b), 123 Stat. at 512–13. 

16See id. div. A, tit. II, 123 Stat. at 128. 

17Public Law 110–385, 122 Stat. 4096 (to be 

codified at 47 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.). 

18See Recovery Act div. A, tit. II, 123 Stat. at 128. 

19 Id. div. A, tit. II & § 6001(b)(3), 123 Stat. at 128, 

512–13. 

rigorous reporting requirements will 

help ensure accountability. 

Approximately $4 billion of program 

level funding has been allocated to this 

NOFA by RUS and NTIA. The 

remaining funds will be made available 

under subsequent NOFAs. The 

requirements for subsequent NOFAs 

may differ from this NOFA to better 

achieve the agencies’ priorities. 

II. Funding Opportunity Description 

A. BIP 

1. BIP Objectives 

The Recovery Act expands RUS’s 

existing authority to make loans and 

provides new authority to make grants 

for the purpose of facilitating broadband 

deployment in rural communities. 

Specifically, the Recovery Act requires 

that 75 percent of a funded area be in 

a rural area that lacks sufficient access 

to high speed broadband service to 

facilitate economic development. 

Because of the short time frames 

imposed by the Recovery Act, the 

requirements outlined in this NOFA 

will be used to govern program 

implementation. 

Under BIP, RUS will award grants, 

loans, and loan/grant combinations for 

broadband infrastructure. Grants under 

BIP are to be used to fund applications 

proposing to exclusively serve remote, 

unserved, rural areas. BIP loan and 

loan/grant combination funds are to be 

used to provide funding to applications 

proposing to serve non-remote and 

underserved rural areas. Projects which 

include non-remote and remote areas 

will be funded by loans or loan/grant 

combinations. The size of the grant 

portion of any loan/grant combination 

award is determined by the applicant, 

but cannot exceed the amount of the 

loan portion of the award. RUS will 

favor applications that propose a higher 

percentage of loan funds. Applicants 

may request 100 percent loan funding. 

RUS will seek to make the extension of 

broadband infrastructure into difficultto-serve areas affordable—a key 

objective of BIP funding—through 

substantial grant funds and attractive 

loan terms with reasonable security 

requirements. 

The Recovery Act establishes the 

rapid disbursement of the funds as an 

important priority for the BIP program. 

However, the program also must be 

administered judiciously to ensure 

responsible use of public funds. To 

balance these two objectives, RUS will 

favor funding projects that can 

commence construction promptly and 

demonstrate technical and financial 

feasibility, organizational capacity, and 

compliance with other Administration 

priorities. A commitment to 

transparency in the award process and 

rigorous reporting requirements will 

help ensure accountability. 

2. BIP Priorities 

The Recovery Act requires that 75 

percent of a BIP-funded area be in a 

rural area that ‘‘lacks sufficient access to 

high speed broadband service to 

facilitate rural economic 

development.’’ 13 Additionally, the 

Recovery Act mandates that priority be 

given to projects which: a. Give end 

users a choice of providers; b. Serve the 

highest proportion of rural residents 

that lack access to broadband service; 

c. Are projects of current or former RUS 

borrowers (Title II borrowers); and 

d. Are fully funded and ready to start 

once Recovery Act funding is received. 

BIP application scoring criteria awards 

projects that implement these 

priorities.14

3. BIP Application and Selection 

Process 

RUS has adopted a two-phase 

application process. Step one of the 

application process requires the 

submission of the information described 

in section VI.D.1.a. This information 

will be evaluated by RUS for 

completeness and eligibility. Ineligible 

and incomplete applications will be 

rejected. Eligible applications will be 

evaluated and ranked based on the 

applicable scoring criteria described in 

section VII. The highest scoring 

applications will be invited to 

participate in step two of the 

application process by submitting the 

additional documentation described in 

section VI.D.1.b. to further support the 

applicants’ representations made in step 

one of the application process. If the 

additional documentation does not 

adequately verify the first submission, 

then the application will be rejected. 

B. BTOP 

1. BTOP Objectives 

Section 6001 of the Recovery Act 

establishes a national broadband service 

development and expansion program to 

promote five core purposes: 

a. To provide access to broadband 

service to consumers residing in 

unserved areas of the country; 

b. To provide improved access to 

broadband service to consumers 

residing in underserved areas of the 

country; 

c. To provide broadband access, 

education, awareness, training, 

equipment, and support to community 

anchor institutions (e.g., schools, 

libraries, medical facilities), or 

organizations and agencies serving 

vulnerable populations (e.g., lowincome, unemployed, aged), or jobcreating strategic facilities located in 

state- or federally designated economic 

development areas; 

d. To improve access to, and use of, 

broadband service by public safety 

agencies; and 

e. To stimulate the demand for 

broadband, economic growth, and job 

creation.15

The Recovery Act provides $4.7 

billion to NTIA for BTOP, to be awarded 

by September 30, 2010, which 

represents a significant investment to 

advance President Obama’s national 

broadband strategy.16 Of this amount, at 

least $200 million will be made 

available for competitive grants for 

expanding public computer center 

capacity. In addition, at least $250 

million will be available for competitive 

grants for innovative programs to 

encourage sustainable adoption of 

broadband services. Up to $350 million 

is available from the Recovery Act to 

fund the State Broadband Data and 

Development Grant Program authorized 

by the Broadband Data Improvement 

Act 17 and to support the development 

and maintenance of a nationwide 

broadband map for use by policymakers 

and consumers. A forthcoming NOFA 

will outline policies and procedures for 

the State Broadband Data and 

Development Grant Program. 

BTOP funds are available through 

three categories of eligible projects: 

Broadband Infrastructure, Public 

Computer Centers, and Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption.18 The Broadband 

Infrastructure category consists of two 

components—Last Mile and Middle 

Mile—and will fund projects to deliver 

broadband access to unserved and 

underserved areas. The Public 

Computer Center category will fund 

projects that expand public access to 

broadband service and enhance 

broadband capacity at entities, such as 

community colleges and public 

libraries, that permit the public to use 

these computing centers.19 The 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

category will fund innovative projects 

that promote broadband demand, 

including projects focused on providing 

broadband education, awareness, 

training, access, equipment or support, 


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20 Id. div. A, tit. II & 6001(b)(5), 123 Stat. at 128, 

513. 

21 Id. § 6001(c), 123 Stat. at 513. 

22See id. § 6001(h)(3), 123 Stat. at 514–15. 

23 Id. § 6001(j), 123 Stat. at 515. 

24See infra section VI.D.1.b. for more details 

regarding the required additional information. 

particularly among vulnerable 

population groups where broadband 

technology has traditionally been 

underutilized.20

The Recovery Act also recognizes the 

valuable role that the states and 

territories can play in implementing 

BTOP, and permits NTIA to consult 

with them in identifying unserved and 

underserved areas within their borders 

and in allocating grant funds for projects 

in or affecting their jurisdictions.21

Consistent with the Recovery Act, NTIA 

has consulted with the FCC on this 

NOFA. 

2. BTOP Priorities 

All projects funded under BTOP must 

advance one or more of the five 

statutory purposes outlined above. The 

program is designed to extend 

broadband access to unserved areas, 

improve access to underserved areas, 

and expand broadband access to a wide 

range of institutions and individuals, 

including vulnerable populations. It 

will seek to serve the highest priority 

needs for federal investment— 

particularly projects that offer the 

potential for economic growth and job 

creation, and provide benefits to 

education, health care, and public 

safety. The program will support viable, 

sustainable, and scalable projects. NTIA 

will favor proposals that satisfy the 

public-interest objectives specified in 

the statute and detailed in this NOFA. 

These projects can serve as models for 

future investors once economic 

conditions improve. 

NTIA expects to distribute grants 

across geographic areas addressing these 

various public purposes. It will issue 

awards on a technologically neutral 

basis, and expects to support projects 

employing a range of technologies (e.g., 

fixed and mobile wireless, fiber, 

satellite). In making these awards, NTIA 

will also take into consideration 

whether an applicant is a socially and 

economically disadvantaged small 

business concern as defined under 

section 8(a) of the Small Business Act 

(SBA) (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(4)).22 Finally, it 

is also important to highlight the desire 

of the Recovery Act to extend nondiscrimination and network 

interconnection obligations on 

awardees. In particular, the Recovery 

Act directs NTIA to impose contractual 

conditions on BTOP grants that would, 

at a minimum, adhere to the principles 

contained in the FCC’s broadband 

policy statement.23

3. BTOP Application and Selection 

Process 

NTIA will employ a two-step 

application review process. First, 

however, NTIA will conduct an initial 

screen of applications to determine 

whether an application meets the 

mandatory threshold requirements, such 

as application completeness, set forth in 

section V.C. of this NOFA. These are 

mandatory threshold requirements that 

qualify an application for further 

review. Applicants that fail to meet any 

of the eligibility factors will be notified 

in writing of the reason for the rejection. 

Subsequent to this initial screening, 

applications will proceed to the step 

one review process. The applications 

will receive at least three independent 

reviews (by a three-member review 

panel) against the eligibility factors as 

well as against the evaluation criteria 

provided in this NOFA. This review 

panel will be comprised of at least three 

peer/expert reviewers who have 

demonstrated subject-matter expertise. 

No consensus advice will be given by 

the reviewers. Each reviewer will 

independently score the application, 

and reviewer scores will be averaged. 

Based on these scores, applications that 

are considered the most highly qualified 

will advance to the step two, ‘‘due 

diligence,’’ review for further 

consideration. All other applications 

will be rejected, and the applicants will 

be notified in writing of the reason for 

the rejection. 

In step two of the review process, the 

remaining applicants will be asked to 

submit additional information, as 

appropriate, such as more detailed plans 

or supporting documents 24 to further 

substantiate the representations made in 

their application. 

The supplemental information will be 

reviewed and analyzed by NTIA staff 

with the support of external 

engineering, business, and subjectmatter experts to evaluate the 

consistency of the applications with the 

supporting documents and ensure 

applications merit awards. Applicants 

whose supporting documents do not 

adequately substantiate the 

representations in their application may 

be rejected, and the applicants will be 

notified in writing of the reason for the 

rejection. Upon completion of its due 

diligence, NTIA program staff will 

complete its analysis of each application 

by assigning a rating based on its 

consistency with the representations 

made in the application. This rating will 

be based on a five-point scale (1–5), 

with a five representing the highest 

consistency and conformity with the 

information already provided, 

especially on technical and budget 

considerations. 

All states will be provided an 

opportunity to make recommendations 

concerning the allocation of funds for 

qualifying projects in or affecting the 

individual states during step two of the 

BTOP application process, regardless of 

their participation in the State 

Broadband Data and Development Grant 

Program. During step two of the BTOP 

application process, the Governor’s 

office of each state will receive a list of 

the applications under consideration. 

States may provide a list and 

prioritization of recommended projects, 

along with an explanation of why the 

selected proposals meet the greatest 

needs of the state. States are strongly 

encouraged to provide mapping and 

planning data to support their 

recommendations. States participating 

in the State Broadband Data and 

Development Grant Program may rely 

on their submission under that program 

to fulfill this request. All states will 

have 20 calendar days from the date of 

notification to submit to NTIA their 

recommendations. 

Upon completion of the step two 

review, NTIA reserves the right to 

discuss with the applicant specific 

modifications to the application to 

resolve any differences that may exist 

between the applicant’s original request 

and what NTIA is willing to fund. Not 

all applicants contacted will necessarily 

receive a BTOP award. The Director of 

BTOP (BTOP Director) will then prepare 

and present a package of recommended 

grant awards to the Associate 

Administrator for the Office of 

Telecommunications and Information 

Applications (OTIA Associate 

Administrator) for review and approval. 

The BTOP Director’s recommendations 

and the OTIA Associate Administrator’s 

review and approval will take into 

account the following selection factors: 

a. The Evaluation Criteria Review 

score of the peer/expert reviewers; 

b. The Due Diligence Review rating of 

the federal reviewers and the analysis of 

NTIA program staff; 

c. Satisfaction of the program’s 

purpose and priorities as described in 

the section entitled ‘‘Program 

Description’’ (e.g., considering whether 

the applicant is a socially and 

economically disadvantaged small 

business concern; ensuring that service 

for health care delivery, education, and 

children is enhanced to the greatest 


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25Recovery Act § 6001(h)(2)(D), 123 Stat. at 515. 

26Consistent with Recovery Act, the application 

for the State Broadband Data and Development 

Grant Program will provide participating states the 

opportunity to identify unserved and underserved 

areas in their state. In their Mapping Grant 

application, states may also make recommendations 

concerning the allocation of funds for projects in or 

affecting the individual states at the time the state 

submits its Mapping Grant application. 

population of users; improve access to 

and use by public safety; ensuring that 

the greatest broadband speed is 

provided to the greatest population of 

users as set forth in the Recovery Act; 

providing broadband access to 

consumers in unserved areas; improving 

broadband service in underserved 

areas); 

d. The geographic distribution of the 

proposed grant awards and diversity of 

populations served (e.g., ensuring that, 

to the extent practical, NTIA award not 

less than one grant in each state as set 

forth in the Recovery Act); 

e. The range of technologies and uses 

of the technologies employed by the 

proposed grant awards; 

f. Avoidance of redundancy, conflicts 

with the initiatives of other federal 

agencies, including Department of 

Agriculture loan and grant programs for 

broadband services, and, to the extent 

practical, avoidance of unjust 

enrichment; 25

g. The availability of funds; and 

h. If applicable, the recommendations 

of states, including, but not limited to, 

such recommendations as described in 

their application for the State 

Broadband Data and Development Grant 

Program or as subsequently provided to 

NTIA either on its own or along with 

the submission of state-level broadband 

maps.26

Upon approval by the OTIA Associate 

Administrator, the BTOP Director’s 

recommendation will then be presented 

to the Selecting Official, the Assistant 

Secretary of NTIA. The Assistant 

Secretary selects the applications for 

grant awards, taking into consideration 

the BTOP Director’s recommendations 

and the degree to which the application 

package, taken as a whole, satisfies the 

selection factors described above and 

the program’s stated purposes and 

priorities as set forth in section II.B of 

this NOFA. Awards will be made on a 

rolling basis subject to the availability of 

funds. 

III. Definitions 

The terms and conditions provided in 

this NOFA are applicable to and for 

purposes of this NOFA only. These 

terms, conditions, and definitions may 

change in subsequent NOFAs issued 

regarding BIP and BTOP. 

Administrator means the RUS 

Administrator, or the Administrator’s 

designee. 

Applicant means an entity requesting 

approval of an award under this NOFA. 

Assistant Secretary means the 

Assistant Secretary for Communications 

and Information, National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration, Department of 

Commerce, or the Assistant Secretary’s 

designee. 

Award documents mean, collectively, 

grant agreement, loan documents and/or 

loan/grant combination documents. 

Award means a grant, loan, or loan/ 

grant combination made under this 

NOFA by either RUS or NTIA. 

Awardee means a grantee, borrower, 

or borrower/grantee. 

BIP means the Broadband Initiatives 

Program, administered by the RUS, 

under the Recovery Act. 

Borrower means the recipient of a 

RUS loan under this NOFA. 

Borrower/grantee means the recipient 

of a RUS loan/grant combination under 

this NOFA. 

Broadband means providing two-way 

data transmission with advertised 

speeds of at least 768 kilobits per 

second (kbps) downstream and at least 

200 kbps upstream to end users, or 

providing sufficient capacity in a 

middle mile project to support the 

provision of broadband service to end 

users. 

BTOP means the Broadband 

Technology Opportunities Program, 

administered by NTIA, under the 

Recovery Act. 

Build-out means the construction or 

improvement of facilities and 

equipment as specified in the 

application. 

Composite economic life means the 

weighted (by dollar amount of each 

class of facility in the loan) average 

economic life of all classes of facilities 

financed by a BIP loan. 

Community anchor institutions means 

schools, libraries, medical and 

healthcare providers, public safety 

entities, community colleges and other 

institutions of higher education, and 

other community support organizations 

and agencies that provide outreach, 

access, equipment and support services 

to facilitate greater use of broadband 

service by vulnerable populations, 

including low-income, unemployed, 

and the aged. 

Critical community facilities means 

public facilities that provide community 

services essential for supporting the 

safety, health, and well-being of 

residents, including, but not limited to, 

emergency response and other public 

safety activities, hospitals and clinics, 

libraries and schools. 

Current ratio means the BIP 

applicant’s current assets divided by the 

current liabilities; all financial terms are 

defined by GAAP. 

Economic life means the estimated 

useful service life of an asset as 

determined by RUS in connection with 

awards made under BIP. 

Forecast period means the time period 

used by RUS and NTIA to determine if 

an application is financially feasible. 

Financial feasibility of an application is 

based on five-year projections. 

GAAP means generally accepted 

accounting principles. 

Grant agreement means the agreement 

between RUS or NTIA and the grantee 

for grants awarded under this NOFA, 

including any amendments thereto, 

available for review at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

Grant funds mean federal funds 

provided pursuant to a grant made 

under this NOFA. 

Grantee means the recipient of a grant 

under this NOFA. 

Last Mile project means any 

infrastructure project the predominant 

purpose of which is to provide 

broadband service to end users or enduser devices (including households, 

businesses, community anchor 

institutions, public safety entities, and 

critical community facilities). 

Last Mile Non-Remote project means 

any broadband infrastructure project (or 

group of projects) that is not exclusively 

a last mile remote area project, and that 

provides broadband service to the end 

user or end-user devices in a service 

area eligible for BIP funding. 

Last Mile Remote Area project means 

any broadband infrastructure project 

that provides broadband service to the 

end user or to end-user devices only in 

a remote area(s) eligible for BIP funding. 

Loan means any loan made under this 

NOFA by RUS. 

Loan contract means the loan 

agreement between RUS and the 

borrower, including all amendments 

thereto, available for review at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

Loan documents mean the loan 

contract, note(s), and security 

instrument between the borrower and 

RUS and any associated documents 

pertaining to the loan. 

Loan/grant means any loan/grant 

combination made under this NOFA by 

RUS. 

Loan/grant contract means the loan/ 

grant contract between RUS and the 

borrower/grantee, including all 

amendments thereto available at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

Loan/grant documents mean the loan/ 

grant contract, note(s), and security 


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27Census blocks are the smallest geographic areas 

for which the U.S. Bureau of the Census collects 

and tabulates decennial census data. Census blocks 

are formed by streets, roads, railroads, streams and 

other bodies of water, other visible physical and 

cultural features, and the legal boundaries shown 

on Census Bureau maps. Census data at this level 

serve as a valuable source for small-area geographic 

studies. See the Census Bureau’s Web site at 

http://www.census.gov for more detailed 

information on its data gathering methodology. 

instrument between the borrower/ 

grantee and RUS and any associated 

documents pertaining to the loan/grant. 

Middle Mile project means a 

broadband infrastructure project that 

does not predominantly provide 

broadband service to end users or to 

end-user devices, and may include 

interoffice transport, backhaul, Internet 

connectivity, or special access. 

Pre-application expense means any 

reasonable expense incurred after the 

release of this NOFA to prepare an 

application, including engineering costs 

and accountant/consultant fees. 

Proposed funded service area means 

the area (either in all or part of an 

existing service area or a new service 

area) where the applicant is requesting 

BIP or BTOP funds to provide 

broadband service pursuant to this 

NOFA. 

Public computer center means a place, 

including but not limited to community 

colleges, libraries, schools, youth 

centers, employment service centers, 

Native American chapter houses, 

community centers, senior centers, 

assistive technology centers for people 

with disabilities, community health 

centers, and Neighborhood Network 

Centers in public housing 

developments, that provide broadband 

access to the general public or a specific 

vulnerable population, such as lowincome, unemployed, aged, children, 

minorities and people with disabilities. 

RE Act means the ‘‘Rural 

Electrification Act of 1936,’’ as amended 

(7 U.S.C. 901 et seq.). 

Recovery Act means the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 

Public Law No. 111–5, 123 Stat. 115 

(2009). 

Remote area means an unserved, rural 

area 50 miles from the limits of a nonrural area. 

Rural area means any area, as 

confirmed by the latest decennial 

census of the Bureau of the Census, 

which is not located within: 1. A city, 

town, or incorporated area that has a 

population of greater than 20,000 

inhabitants; or 2. an urbanized area 

contiguous and adjacent to a city or 

town that has a population of greater 

than 50,000 inhabitants. For purposes of 

the definition of rural area, an urbanized 

area means a densely populated 

territory as defined in the latest 

decennial census of the U.S. Census 

Bureau. 

Security document means any 

mortgage, deed of trust, security 

agreement, financing statement, or other 

document that RUS determines is 

necessary to perfect its interest in the 

security for a loan or loan/grant. 

Service area means the entire area 

within which a service provider either 

offers or intends to offer broadband 

service and may include the proposed 

funded service area. 

State means, for purposes of BTOP, a 

state or political subdivision thereof, the 

District of Columbia, or a territory or 

possession of the United States. 

TIER means times interest earned 

ratio. TIER is the ratio of a BIP 

applicant’s net income (after taxes) plus 

(adding back) interest expense, all 

divided by interest expense (existing 

and any new interest expense including 

the interest expense associated with the 

proposed loan); all financial terms are 

defined by GAAP. 

Underserved area means a proposed 

funded service area, composed of one or 

more contiguous census blocks 27

meeting certain criteria that measure the 

availability of broadband service and 

the level of advertised broadband 

speeds. These criteria conform to the 

two distinct components of the 

Broadband Infrastructure category of 

eligible projects—Last Mile and Middle 

Mile. Specifically, a proposed funded 

service area may qualify as underserved 

for last mile projects if at least one of the 

following factors is met, though the 

presumption will be that more than one 

factor is present: 1. No more than 50 

percent of the households in the 

proposed funded service area have 

access to facilities-based, terrestrial 

broadband service at greater than the 

minimum broadband transmission 

speed (set forth in the definition of 

broadband above); 2. No fixed or mobile 

broadband service provider advertises 

broadband transmission speeds of at 

least three megabits per second 

(‘‘mbps’’) downstream in the proposed 

funded service area; or 3. The rate of 

broadband subscribership for the 

proposed funded service area is 40 

percent of households or less. A 

proposed funded service area may 

qualify as underserved for Middle Mile 

projects if one interconnection point 

terminates in a proposed funded service 

area that qualifies as unserved or 

underserved for Last Mile projects. 

Unserved area means a proposed 

funded service area, composed of one or 

more contiguous census blocks, where 

at least 90 percent of households in the 

proposed funded service area lack 

access to facilities-based, terrestrial 

broadband service, either fixed or 

mobile, at the minimum broadband 

transmission speed (set forth in the 

definition of broadband above). A 

household has access to broadband 

service if the household can readily 

subscribe to that service upon request. 

IV. Award Information 

A. Available Funds for BIP 

1. General 

Approximately $2,400,000,000 in 

program level funding has been set 

aside for funding opportunities under 

this NOFA. 

2. Funding Limits 

Award amounts under this NOFA will 

be limited as follows: 

a. Last Mile Projects 

Up to $1,200,000,000 is available for 

Last Mile projects. These projects may 

consist of Remote Area projects or NonRemote projects. Up to $400,000,000 is 

available for grants for Remote Area 

projects. Up to $800,000,000 is available 

for loans or loan/grant combinations for 

Non-Remote projects. 

b. Middle Mile Projects 

Up to $800,000,000 is available for 

loans or loan/grant combinations for 

Middle Mile projects. 

3. Repooling 

For categories that do not receive 

applications that request the full 

amount of allocated funds, excess funds 

may be directed to another category at 

RUS’s discretion. Additionally, if RUS 

does not make awards in the full 

amount allocated to a category, RUS 

may, at its discretion, direct such excess 

funds to another category. 

4. National Reserve 

Up to $325,000,000 is available for a 

national reserve. These funds may be 

used to augment the BIP funding 

categories established above, or remain 

unused for subsequent NOFAs. In any 

event, all funds will be awarded no later 

than September 30, 2010. 

5. Unused Funds 

Funds made available but not used for 

this NOFA may be directed to 

subsequent NOFAs. 

6. Award Period 

All awards under BIP must be made 

no later than September 30, 2010. While 

the completion time will vary 

depending on the complexity of the 

project, award recipients must 


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28Recovery Act § 6001(h)(1), 123 Stat. at 514. 

29 Id. § 6001(d)(2), 123 Stat. at 513. 

30 Id. § 6001(d)(3), 123 Stat. at 513. 

31 Id. § 6001(e)(1)(C), 123 Stat. at 513. 

substantially complete projects 

supported by this program no later than 

two years, and projects must be fully 

completed no later than three years, 

following the date of issuance of the 

award. 

7. Type of Funding Instrument 

The funding instruments for BIP will 

be a grant, loan, and loan/grant 

combination. 

B. Available Funds for BTOP 

1. General 

Up to $1,600,000,000 in budget 

authority has been set aside for funding 

opportunities under this NOFA. 

Publication of this NOFA does not 

obligate NTIA to award any specific 

project or obligate all or any parts of any 

available funds, although the Recovery 

Act indicates that the Assistant 

Secretary shall award at least one grant 

in each state to the extent practical by 

September 30, 2010.28

2. Funding Limits 

Up to $1.4 billion is available to be 

awarded under this NOFA and will be 

allocated in the following categories: 

a. Broadband Infrastructure projects 

will be awarded no greater than $1.2 

billion; 

b. Public Computer Center projects 

will be awarded no greater than $50 

million; and 

c. Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

projects will be awarded no more than 

$150 million. 

3. Repooling 

Subject to the statutory thresholds set 

forth in the Recovery Act, NTIA retains 

the discretion to divert funds from one 

category of projects to another. 

4. National Reserve 

Up to $200 million is available for a 

national reserve. These funds may be 

used to augment the BTOP funding 

categories established above, or remain 

unused for subsequent NOFAs. In any 

event, all funds will be awarded no later 

than September 30, 2010. 

5. Unused Funds 

Funds not awarded under this NOFA 

may be used to fund subsequent 

NOFAs. 

6. Award Period 

All awards under BTOP must be made 

no later than September 30, 2010.29

While the completion time will vary 

depending on the complexity of the 

project, grant recipients must 

substantially complete projects 

supported by this program no later than 

two years, and projects must be fully 

completed no later than three years, 

following the date of issuance of the 

grant award.30

7. Type of Funding Instrument 

The funding instrument for BTOP will 

be a grant. 

V. Eligibility Information for BIP and 

BTOP 

A. In General 

Applicants must satisfy the following 

eligibility requirements to qualify for 

funding. 

B. Eligible Entities 

1. Applicant Organization 

The following entities are eligible to 

apply for assistance: 

a. States, local governments, or any 

agency, subdivision, instrumentality, or 

political subdivision thereof; 

b. The District of Columbia; 

c. A territory or possession of the 

United States; 

d. An Indian tribe (as defined in 

section 4 of the Indian SelfDetermination and Education 

Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b)); 

e. A native Hawaiian organization; 

f. A non-profit foundation, a nonprofit corporation, a non-profit 

institution, or a non-profit association; 

g. Other non-profit entities; 

h. For-profit corporations; 

i. Limited liability companies; and 

j. Cooperative or mutual 

organizations. 

2. BTOP Public Interest Finding 

Section 6001(e)(1)(C) of the Recovery 

Act authorizes the Assistant Secretary to 

find by rule that it is in the public 

interest for any entity not otherwise 

encompassed by section 6001(e)(1) to be 

eligible for a BTOP grant to the extent 

that such finding will promote the 

purposes of BTOP in a technologically 

neutral manner. Through this NOFA, 

the Assistant Secretary has found it to 

be in the public interest to permit forprofit corporations and non-profit 

entities (not otherwise encompassed by 

section 6001(e)(1)(B)) that are willing to 

promote the goals of the Recovery Act 

and comply with the statutory 

requirements of BTOP to be eligible for 

a grant. By adopting this broad 

approach, the Assistant Secretary 

intends to invite a diverse group of 

applicants to participate in BTOP and to 

expand broadband capabilities in a 

technologically neutral manner.31

C. Application Eligibility Factors 

The following eligibility factors 

establish basic requirements that all 

applicants must comply with in order to 

be eligible for an award. Applicants 

failing to comply with these 

requirements will not have their 

applications considered. This section 

lists eligibility factors (a) shared by BIP 

and all three BTOP project categories; 

(b) shared by BIP and BTOP Broadband 

Infrastructure projects; (c) that apply 

only to BIP projects; and (d) that apply 

only to the three BTOP project 

categories. 

1. Eligibility Factors Common to All BIP 

and BTOP Applicants 

a. Fully Completed Application 

Applicants must submit a complete 

application and provide all supporting 

documentation required for the 

application. 

b. Timely Completion 

A project is eligible only if the 

application demonstrates that the 

project can be substantially completed 

within two years of the date of issuance 

of the grant, loan, or loan/grant award 

and finished within three years of the 

date of the award. For BIP, a project is 

considered ‘‘substantially complete’’ 

when an awardee has received 67 

percent of its award funds. For BTOP, 

a project is considered ‘‘substantially 

complete’’ when the awardee has met 67 

percent of the project milestones and 

received 67 percent of its award funds. 

2. Additional Factors Applicable to BIP 

and BTOP Broadband Infrastructure 

Applicants 

a. Broadband Service 

All Broadband Infrastructure 

applicants must propose to offer service 

meeting the definition of Broadband as 

defined herein. 

b. Technical Feasibility 

Only projects that RUS and NTIA 

determine to be technically feasible will 

be eligible for an award under this 

NOFA. At minimum, applicants will be 

required to submit a system design and 

project timeline, certified by a 

professional engineer, for any project 

requesting funds over $1 million. 

c. Nondiscrimination and 

Interconnection 

All Broadband Infrastructure (both 

BIP and BTOP) applicants, must commit 

to the following Nondiscrimination and 

Interconnection Obligations: i. Adhere 

to the principles contained in the FCC’s 

Internet Policy Statement (FCC 05–151, 

adopted August 5, 2005); ii. not favor 


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32See id. div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 118. 

any lawful Internet applications and 

content over others; iii. display any 

network management policies in a 

prominent location on the service 

provider’s web page and provide notice 

to customers of changes to these policies 

(awardees must describe any business 

practices or technical mechanisms they 

employ, other than standard best efforts 

Internet delivery, to allocate capacity; 

differentiate among applications, 

providers, or sources; limit usage; and 

manage illegal or harmful content); iv. 

connect to the public Internet directly or 

indirectly, such that the project is not an 

entirely private closed network; and v. 

offer interconnection, where technically 

feasible without exceeding current or 

reasonably anticipated capacity 

limitations, on reasonable rates and 

terms to be negotiated with requesting 

parties. This includes both the ability to 

connect to the public Internet and 

physical interconnection for the 

exchange of traffic. Applicants must 

disclose their proposed interconnection, 

nondiscrimination, and network 

management practices with the 

application. 

All these requirements shall be 

subject to the needs of law enforcement 

and reasonable network management. 

Thus, awardees may employ generally 

accepted technical measures to provide 

acceptable service levels to all 

customers, such as caching and 

application-neutral bandwidth 

allocation, as well as measures to 

address spam, denial of service attacks, 

illegal content, and other harmful 

activities. In addition to providing the 

required connection to the Internet, 

awardees may offer managed services, 

such as telemedicine, public safety 

communications, and distance learning, 

which use private network connections 

for enhanced quality of service, rather 

than traversing the public Internet. 

An awardee may satisfy the 

requirement for interconnection by 

negotiating in good faith with all parties 

making a bona fide request. The 

awardee and requesting party may 

negotiate terms such as business 

arrangements, capacity limits, financial 

terms, and technical conditions for 

interconnection. If the awardee and 

requesting party cannot reach 

agreement, they may voluntarily seek an 

interpretation by the FCC of any FCC 

rules implicated in the dispute. If an 

agreement cannot be reached within 90 

days, the party requesting 

interconnection may notify RUS or 

NTIA in writing of the failure to reach 

satisfactory terms with the awardee. The 

90-day limit is to encourage the parties 

to resolve differences through 

negotiation. 

With respect to non-discrimination, 

those who believe an awardee has failed 

to meet the non-discrimination 

obligations should first seek action at 

the FCC of any FCC rules implicated in 

the dispute. If the FCC chooses to take 

no action, those seeking recourse may 

notify RUS or NTIA in writing about the 

alleged failure to adhere to 

commitments of the award. 

Entities that successfully reach an 

agreement to interconnect with a system 

funded under BIP may not use that 

interconnection agreement to provide 

services that duplicate services 

provided by projects funded by 

outstanding telecommunications loans 

made under the RE Act. Further, 

interconnection may not result in a BIPfunded facility being used for ineligible 

purposes under the Recovery Act. 

These conditions will apply for the 

life of the awardee’s facilities used in 

the project and not to any existing 

network arrangements. The conditions 

apply to any contractors or 

subcontractors of such awardees 

employed to deploy or operate the 

network facilities for the infrastructure 

project. Recipients that fail to accept or 

comply with the terms listed above may 

be considered in default or breach of 

their loan or grant agreements. RUS and 

NTIA may exercise all available 

remedies to cure the default. 

d. Last Mile Coverage Obligation 

An applicant for a Last Mile 

Broadband Infrastructure project must 

identify the census block(s) selected for 

the project and provide documentation 

supporting the applicant’s 

determination that the proposed funded 

service area is either unserved or 

underserved. There is a presumption 

that the applicant will provide service 

to the entire territory of each census 

block included in the proposed funded 

service area, unless the applicant files a 

waiver and provides a reasoned 

explanation as to why providing 

coverage for an entire census block is 

infeasible. Applicants may be permitted 

to serve less than an entire census block 

under certain conditions. For example, 

an applicant might request to be 

relieved of this requirement if the 

census block exceeds 100 square miles 

or more or is larger than the applicant’s 

authorized operating territory, e.g., it 

splits a rural incumbent local exchange 

carrier’s (ILEC’s) study area or exceeds 

the boundaries of a wireless carrier’s 

licensed territory. 

3. Additional Factors for BIP 

a. Eligible Service Area 

A project is eligible only if the 

applicant demonstrates that at least 75 

percent of the proposed funded service 

area qualifies as a rural area without 

sufficient access to broadband service to 

facilitate rural economic development.32

For the purposes of this NOFA, RUS has 

determined that ‘‘without sufficient 

broadband access’’ shall mean without 

access to broadband, as defined herein. 

Furthermore, RUS has determined that 

only rural areas which are unserved or 

underserved, as defined herein, shall 

qualify as ‘‘areas without sufficient 

access to broadband service.’’ Therefore, 

to qualify for BIP funding, projects must 

serve at least 75 percent unserved or 

underserved rural areas. 

b. Overlapping Service Areas 

RUS will not fund more than one 

project to serve any given geographic 

area. If more than one application 

would serve any overlapping geographic 

area, the application with the highest 

score will be funded; other applications 

for the same area will be rejected in 

their entirety unless RUS, in its 

discretion, determines that the extent of 

the overlap is de minimis. 

c. Fully Funded 

A project is eligible only if, after 

approval of the grant, loan, or loan/grant 

combination, all project costs can be 

fully funded. To demonstrate this, 

applicants must include with the 

application evidence of all funding, 

other than the RUS award, necessary to 

support the project, such as bank 

account statements or firm letters of 

commitment from equity participants or 

other lenders documenting the timely 

availability of funds. 

d. Financial Feasibility and 

Sustainability 

Only projects that RUS determines to 

be financially feasible and/or 

sustainable will be eligible for an award 

under this NOFA. 

Loans: A project funded by a loan or 

loan/grant combination is financially 

feasible when the applicant is able to 

generate sufficient revenues to cover its 

expenses, has sufficient cash flow to 

service its debts and obligations as they 

come due, and meet the minimum 

Times Interest Earned Ratio (TIER) 

requirement of one by the end of the 

forecast period, as determined by RUS. 

Grants: A project funded by a grant is 

financially sustainable when the 

applicant is able to generate a minimum 


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33See id. § 6001(b), 123 Stat. at 512–13. 

34See id. § 6001(f), 123 Stat. at 514. 

35See Uniform Administrative Requirements for 

Grants and Agreements with Institutions of Higher 

Education, Hospitals, Other Non-profit, and 

Commercial Organizations, 15 CFR § 14.23(a)(5); see 

also Uniform Administrative Requirements for 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements to State and 

Local Governments, 24 CFR § 24.24(b)(1). 

36See 15 CFR §§ 14.23(a), 24.24(a). 

37For example there is a set of federal principles 

for determining eligible or allowable costs. 

Allowability of costs will be determined in 

accordance with the cost principles applicable to 

the entity incurring the costs. Thus, allowability of 

costs incurred by state, local or federally-recognized 

Indian tribal governments is determined in 

accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular 

A–87, ‘‘Cost Principles for State, Local and Indian 

Tribal Governments.’’ The allowability of costs 

incurred by non-profit organizations is determined 

in accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular 

A–122, ‘‘Cost Principles for Non-Profit 

Organizations.’’ The allowability of costs incurred 

by institutions of higher education is determined in 

accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular 

A–21, ‘‘Cost Principles for Educational 

Institutions.’’ The allowability of costs incurred by 

hospitals is determined in accordance with the 

provisions of Appendix E of 45 CFR pt. 74, 

‘‘Principles for Determining Costs Applicable to 

Research and Development under Grants and 

Contracts with Hospitals.’’ The allowability of costs 

incurred by commercial organizations and those 

non-profit organizations listed in Attachment C to 

Circular 

A–122 is determined in accordance with the 

provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation 

(FAR) at 48 CFR pt. 31. See 15 CFR 14.27, 24.22 

(governing the Department of Commerce’s 

implementation of OMB requirements). 

current ratio of one by the end of the 

forecast period and can demonstrate a 

positive cash balance for each year of 

the forecast period. 

4. Additional Factors for BTOP 

a. Conformity With Statutory Purposes 

A project is eligible only if it advances 

at least one of the statutory purposes for 

BTOP.33

b. Cost Sharing/Matching 

Awardees under BTOP will be 

required to provide matching funds of at 

least 20 percent toward the total eligible 

project cost. Applicants must document 

their capacity to provide matching 

funds. NTIA will provide up to 80 

percent of total eligible project costs, 

unless the applicant petitions the 

Assistant Secretary for a waiver of the 

matching requirement and that waiver is 

granted by the Assistant Secretary based 

on the applicant’s demonstration of 

financial need.34 In requesting such a 

waiver, an applicant should fully 

explain and document its inability to 

provide the required 20 percent share of 

the cost of its proposed project. An 

applicant should submit complete 

financial documentation supporting its 

need for a waiver of the matching 

requirement. These documents should 

include the applicant’s assets, liabilities, 

operating expenses and revenues from 

any existing operations, and any other 

documents that will demonstrate 

financial need and sustainability, 

including such items as a denial of 

funding from a public or private lending 

institution. The Assistant Secretary will 

evaluate the information provided in 

support of the petition and may increase 

the federal share if financial need is 

demonstrated. 

Generally, federal funds may not be 

used as matching funds except as 

provided by federal statute.35 In-kind 

contributions, including third party inkind contributions, are non-cash 

donations to a project that may count 

toward satisfying the non-federal 

matching requirement of a project’s total 

budget. In-kind contributions must be 

allowable project expenses. Such 

contributions may be accepted as part of 

an applicant’s matching when such 

contributions meet certain criteria.36

Applications that propose to provide 

matching funds of greater than 20 

percent and that are all cash will be 

given additional favorable consideration 

in step one of the application review 

process. 

c. Demonstration That Project Could Not 

Be Implemented but for Federal Grant 

Assistance 

Grant applicants must provide 

documentation that the project would 

not have been implemented during the 

grant period without federal grant 

assistance. This documentation may 

consist of, but is not limited to, such 

items as a denial of funding from a 

public or private lending institution, 

denial of a funding request from RUS for 

a loan or loan/grant combination, a 

current fiscal year budget that shows the 

lack of available revenue options for 

funding the project, or a business case 

that demonstrates that the project would 

not be economically feasible without 

grant financing. 

d. Reasonableness of Project Budget 

A project will only be eligible if it 

demonstrates that its budget is 

appropriate to the proposed technical 

and programmatic solutions, its costs 

are reasonable and eligible consistent 

with the principles outlined in section 

V.D below, and that the allocation of 

funds will be sufficient to complete the 

tasks outlined in the project plan. 

D. Eligible Cost Purposes 

1. General 

Award funds must be used only to 

pay for eligible costs. Eligible costs are 

consistent with the cost principles 

identified in the applicable OMB 

circulars 37 and in the grant or the loan/ 

grant program’s authorizing legislation. 

In addition, costs must be reasonable, 

allocable, necessary to the project, and 

comply with the funding statute 

requirements. Any application that 

proposes to use any portion of the 

award funds for any ineligible cost will 

be rejected. 

2. Eligible and Ineligible Costs for BIP 

and BTOP Infrastructure Projects 

a. Eligible Infrastructure Award 

Expenses 

Award funds may be used to pay for 

the following expenses: 

i. To fund the construction or 

improvement of all facilities required to 

provide broadband service, and for BIP 

only, including facilities required for 

providing other services over the same 

facilities; 

ii. To fund the cost of leasing facilities 

required to provide broadband service if 

such lease qualifies as a capital lease 

under GAAP. Award funds may be used 

to fund the cost of the capital lease for 

no more than the first five years after the 

date of the first advance of award funds; 

iii. To fund reasonable preapplication expenses in an amount not 

to exceed five percent of the award. Preapplication expenses may be 

reimbursed if they are incurred after the 

publication date of this NOFA and prior 

to the date on which the application is 

submitted to RUS or NTIA; and 

iv. For BTOP only undertaking such 

other projects and activities as the 

Assistant Secretary finds to be 

consistent with the purposes for which 

the program is established. 

b. Ineligible Award Expenses 

Award funds may not be used for any 

of the following purposes: 

i. To fund operating expenses of the 

project, including fixed and recurring 

costs of a project; 

ii. To fund costs incurred prior to the 

date on which the application is 

submitted, with the exception of eligible 

pre-application expenses; 

iii. To fund an acquisition, including 

the acquisition of the stock of an 

affiliate, or the purchase or acquisition 

of any facilities or equipment of an 

affiliate; 

iv. To fund the purchase or lease of 

any vehicle other than those used 

primarily in construction or system 

improvements; 

v. To fund broadband facilities leased 

under the terms of an operating lease; 

vi. To fund merger or consolidation of 

entities; and 


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38 2 CFR 215.24; 15 CFR 14.24, 24.25. 

vii. To fund costs incurred in 

acquiring spectrum as part of an FCC 

auction or in a secondary market 

acquisition. 

3. Eligible and Ineligible Costs for 

Public Computer Centers and 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

a. General 

Grantees for BTOP funds under these 

two project categories are required to 

show how such funding serves the 

stated purposes of: i. Providing 

broadband education, awareness, 

training, access, equipment, and support 

to community anchor institutions (e.g., 

schools, libraries, medical and 

healthcare providers, community 

colleges and other institutions of higher 

education, and other community 

support organizations), or organizations 

and agencies serving vulnerable 

populations (e.g., low-income, 

unemployed, aged), or job-creating 

strategic facilities located in state- or 

federally-designated economic 

development areas; ii. improving access 

to, and use of, broadband service by 

public safety agencies; and iii. 

stimulating the demand for broadband, 

economic growth, and job creation. 

b. Eligible Costs for Public Computer 

Centers 

Grantees may use BTOP funding 

under this project category to expand 

computer center capacity by: 

i. Acquiring broadband-related 

equipment, instrumentation, networking 

capability, hardware and software, and 

digital network technology for 

broadband services; 

ii. Developing and providing training, 

education, support and awareness 

programs or web-based resources; 

iii. Facilitating access to broadband 

services, including, but not limited to, 

making public computer centers 

accessible to the disabled; and 

iv. Undertaking such other projects 

and activities as the Assistant Secretary 

finds to be consistent with the purposes 

for which the program is established. 

c. Eligible Costs for Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption 

Grantees may use BTOP funding 

under this project category to encourage 

sustainable adoption of broadband 

services by: 

i. Acquiring broadband-related 

equipment, hardware and software, and 

digital network technology for 

broadband services; 

ii. Developing and providing training, 

education, support and awareness 

programs or web-based content; 

iii. Conducting broadband-related 

public education, outreach, support and 

awareness campaigns; 

iv. Implementing innovative programs 

to facilitate greater access to broadband 

service, devices, and equipment; and 

v. Undertaking such other projects 

and activities as the Assistant Secretary 

finds to be consistent with the purposes 

for which the program is established. 

d. Ineligible Costs for Public Computer 

Centers and Sustainable Broadband 

Adoption 

BTOP grant funds may not be used to 

fund purchases that are not used 

predominantly for the provision of 

broadband education, awareness, 

training, access, equipment and support. 

E. Use of Program Income 

Grantees are required to account for 

any program income directly generated 

by projects financed in whole or in part 

with federal funds. Given the Recovery 

Act’s objectives to spur job creation and 

stimulate long-term economic growth 

and opportunity, projects funded by BIP 

and BTOP grants are expected to 

convincingly demonstrate the ability to 

be sustained beyond the funding period. 

While grant funds are intended to cover 

the capital costs of a project as part of 

the Recovery Act’s effort to stimulate 

the economy, grant recipients for all 

grant programs are expected to present 

projects that will sustain long-term 

growth and viability. 

For purposes of BIP and BTOP, any 

program income generated by a 

proposed project during the grant period 

shall be retained by the grant recipient 

and shall be added to the funds 

committed to the project by RUS or 

NTIA and the recipient. The grant 

recipient should use program income to 

further eligible project objectives, 

including reinvestment in project 

facilities. Program income means gross 

income earned by the recipient that is 

either directly generated by a supported 

activity, or earned as a result of the 

award during the funding period. Grant 

recipients shall have no obligation to 

the federal government regarding 

program income earned after the end of 

the project period. However, the federal 

government retains an interest in 

property in the event that it is sold, 

consistent with the guidance outlined in 

section IX of this NOFA.38

VI. Application and Submission 

Information 

A. Request for Application Package 

Complete application packages, 

including required federal forms and 

instructions, will be available at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. Additional 

information for BIP and BTOP can be 

found in the Application Guidelines at 

http://www.broadbandusa.gov. This 

Web site will be updated regularly. 

B. Registration 

1. DUNS Number 

All applicants must supply a Dun and 

Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering 

System (DUNS) number. Applicants can 

receive a DUNS number at no cost by 

calling the dedicated toll-free DUNS 

number request line at 1–866–705–5711 

or via the Internet at http:// 

www.dunandbradstreet.com. 

2. Central Contractor Registration (CCR) 

All applicants must provide a CCR 

(CAGE) number evidencing current 

registration in the Central Contractor 

Registration (CCR) database. If the 

applicant does not have a current CCR 

(CAGE) number, the applicant must 

register in the CCR system available at 

http://www.ccr.gov/ 

StartRegistration.aspx. 

C. Choosing the Proper Agency and 

Category for an Application 

1. Broadband Infrastructure 

a. Choosing BIP or BTOP Broadband 

Infrastructure 

i. Applications for Rural Areas. All 

applications to fund broadband 

infrastructure in proposed funded 

service areas which are at least 75 

percent rural are required to be 

submitted to RUS for consideration 

under BIP. If such applicants also 

choose to be considered for BTOP 

funding, they must complete the 

additional elements required of BTOP 

infrastructure applicants. RUS will 

consider all applications for projects in 

proposed funded service areas which 

are at least 75 percent rural in 

accordance with the BIP procedures 

outlined in this NOFA. If the applicant 

also chooses to be considered under 

BTOP, NTIA will review these 

applications using its own objective 

evaluation criteria and in accordance 

with BTOP procedures outlined in this 

NOFA. NTIA may make awards with 

respect to such applications NTIA 

determines to be meritorious after RUS 

has reviewed the application and 

determined not to fund it. RUS and 

NTIA have adopted these application 

procedures to reflect the fact that 

Congress, in the Recovery Act, intended 

that RUS focus its activities on rural 

areas and mandated that NTIA funding 

could not be applied in the same area 

funded by RUS under the Recovery Act. 


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ii. Applications for All Other Areas. 

All applications to fund broadband 

infrastructure projects in proposed 

funded service areas that are less than 

75 percent rural must be submitted to 

NTIA for consideration under BTOP. 

Submissions to BIP of such applications 

will be rejected. 

b. BIP Broadband Infrastructure 

Categories 

i. Last Mile Remote Area 

Applications for Last Mile Remote 

Area projects must predominantly 

provide broadband directly to the 

premise or to end users within 

completely remote areas, as defined 

herein. The BIP Program will consider 

applications for grant funds up to 100 

percent. For grants receiving greater 

than 80 percent of eligible costs, the 

Administrator must determine that the 

awardee has a specific financial need 

that justifies funding greater than 80 

percent. 

ii. Last Mile Non-Remote Projects 

Applications for Last Mile NonRemote Area projects must 

predominantly provide broadband 

directly to the premise or to end users 

that are not exclusively within remote 

areas, as defined herein. Last Mile NonRemote Area projects may encompass 

both remote and non-remote areas, and 

will be awarded scoring points for 

remote areas within the application. 

Only those applications for loans or 

loan/grant combinations whose total 

proposed funded service area contains 

75 percent or more unserved or 

underserved rural areas, as defined 

herein, will be considered for BIP 

funding. 

iii. Broadband Infrastructure Middle 

Mile Projects 

Applications for Middle Mile projects 

must connect at least two points 

without predominantly providing 

broadband service to the premise or end 

users, and must be capable of bringing 

broadband service to eligible service 

areas. The BIP program will consider 

only those applications for loans and 

loan/grant combinations whose total 

proposed funded service area benefits at 

least 75 percent or more unserved or 

underserved rural areas, as defined 

herein. 

c. BTOP Broadband Infrastructure 

Categories 

i. Last Mile 

For the purposes of BTOP grant funds, 

applications for Last Mile projects must 

be for unserved or underserved areas 

and have the predominant purpose to 

provide broadband service to end users 

or end-user devices (including homes, 

businesses, schools, libraries, medical 

and health care providers, community 

support organizations, public safety 

entities, vulnerable populations and 

other institutions and individuals). 

Highly responsive Last Mile projects 

should be technically feasible, 

sustainable, and scalable, and address 

BTOP’s priority needs, including 

offering substantial economic, 

educational, health care, and public 

safety benefits relative to the costs of 

providing service. 

iii. Middle Mile 

For the purposes of BTOP grant funds, 

applications for Middle Mile projects 

must be for unserved or underserved 

areas and have a predominant purpose 

other than providing broadband service 

to end users or to end-user devices and 

may include interoffice transport, 

backhaul, Internet connectivity, or 

special access. Highly responsive 

Middle Mile projects should be 

technically feasible, sustainable, and 

scalable and offer substantial benefits to 

unserved and underserved areas relative 

to the costs of providing service. 

2. BTOP—Public Computer Centers 

For the purposes of BTOP grant funds, 

applicants requesting a Public Computer 

Center grant must have a project that 

provides broadband access to the 

general public or a specific vulnerable 

population, such as low-income, 

unemployed, aged, children, minorities 

and people with disabilities. Projects 

must create or expand a public 

computer center meeting a specific 

public need for broadband service, 

including but not limited to education, 

employment, economic development, 

and enhanced service for health-care 

delivery, children, and vulnerable 

populations. As described below, NTIA 

will consider information related to the 

demographics, size and scope of the 

populations to be served, as well as the 

capacity of the proposed centers. 

3. BTOP—Sustainable Broadband 

Adoption 

Applications for Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption projects should 

demonstrate a sustainable increase in 

demand for and subscribership to 

broadband services. Projects should 

meet a specific public need for 

broadband service, including, but not 

limited to, education, employment, 

economic development, and enhanced 

service for health-care delivery, 

children, and vulnerable populations. 

Projects should describe the barriers to 

adoption in a given area, especially 

among vulnerable populations, and 

propose an innovative and persuasive 

solution to encourage adoption. 

Applicants might show how variations 

on one or more proven demand 

stimulation strategy—such as 

awareness-building, development of 

relevant content, and demand 

aggregation—would promote 

sustainable adoption. 

D. Contents of the Application 

1. BIP and BTOP Broadband 

Infrastructure Project Applications 

a. Requirements for Step One of the 

Application Process 

A complete application will include 

the following: 

i. The identity of the applicant and 

general applicant and project 

information including: 

(1) A description of the project that 

will be made public consistent with the 

requirements of the Recovery Act; 

(2) The Congressional Districts 

affected by the project; 

(3) The estimated dollar amount of the 

funding request; 

ii. Verification that the application 

meets certain eligibility factors, 

including submission of a complete 

application with all supplemental 

documentation, commitment to 

substantial completion of the project 

within two years and project completion 

within three years of the award date, 

demonstration that the project is 

technically feasible, that the applicant 

will provide broadband service meeting 

the definition in this NOFA, that the 

applicant agrees to comply with the 

nondiscrimination and interconnection 

obligations in this NOFA, and that the 

applicant agrees to comply with the last 

mile coverage obligations in this NOFA; 

for BIP only, that at least 75% of the 

proposed funded service area is a rural 

area, that the project will be fully 

funded, and that the project is 

financially feasible; and for BTOP only, 

demonstration that the project advances 

at least one of BTOP’s five statutory 

purposes, commitment to or a waiver for 

the cost matching requirement, 

demonstration that a project could not 

be completed in the grant period but for 

federal funding, and that the budget is 

reasonable and all costs are eligible; 

iii. An executive summary of the 

project, including but not limited to the 

opportunity the proposed system seeks 

to address; a description of the proposed 

funded service area; number of 

households and businesses passed; 

number of community anchor 

institutions, public safety entities and 

critical community organizations to be 

passed and/or involved in the project; 


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proposed service offerings; how nondiscrimination and interconnection 

requirements will be met; the type of 

broadband system to be deployed; 

qualifications of the applicant; overall 

infrastructure cost of the broadband 

system; subscriber projections; and the 

number of jobs the project is expected 

to create or save; 

iv. A description of the proposed 

funded service area, including: (1) A 

map; (2) data describing the geography 

and demographics of the proposed 

funded service area, including 

information as to whether the proposed 

funded service area is unserved or 

underserved; (3) names of the census 

designated communities and 

identification of areas not within a 

census designated community within 

the proposed funded service area; (4) 

information as to whether the 

communities and areas identified in 

clause (3) are rural or non-rural, remote 

and unserved, underserved or served; 

(5) the methodology for making the 

above classifications; (6) whether the 

applicant is seeking a waiver from 

providing less than 100% coverage of 

any census block; and; (7) for middle 

mile projects, identification of the last 

mile areas to be served; 

v. A description of the proposed 

service offerings, and the associated 

pricing plan, that the applicant proposes 

to offer, as well as the advertised prices 

of service offerings by competitors in 

the same area; a description of the 

applicant’s nondiscrimination, 

interconnection, and network 

management plans; an explanation of 

why the proposed service offerings are 

affordable; and for BTOP only, an 

estimate of the cost of the project per 

household; 

vi. The technology type; a description 

of the system design used to deliver the 

broadband service; a network diagram, 

which must be certified by a 

professional engineer if the funding 

request exceeds $1,000,000; whether the 

applicant is seeking a waiver of the Buy 

America provision; and whether the 

project allows more than one provider 

to serve end users; 

vii. A timeline including key 

milestones for implementation of the 

project, including a construction 

schedule, certified by a professional 

engineer if the funding request exceeds 

$1,000,000, which identifies potential 

challenges and establishes the viability 

of the project timeline and associated 

milestones for build-out to the census 

blocks, households, businesses, 

community anchor institutions, and 

public safety entities identified in the 

proposal; a list of all required licenses 

and regulatory approvals needed for the 

proposed project; and how much the 

applicant will rely on contractors or 

vendors to deploy the network facilities; 

viii. Resumes of key management 

personnel, a description of the 

organization’s readiness to manage a 

broadband services network, and an 

organizational chart showing any parent 

organizations and/or subsidiaries and 

affiliates; 

ix. A legal opinion (as set forth in the 

application) that: (1) Addresses the 

applicant’s ability to enter into the 

award documents; (2) describes all 

pending litigation matters; and (3) for 

loan and loan/grant combinations, 

addresses the applicant’s ability to 

pledge security as required by the award 

documents; 

x. Partnerships with public, nonprofit, and private sector groups and 

collaboration with other state and 

federal development programs 

including other Recovery Act programs; 

xi. An itemized budget of the 

infrastructure costs of the proposed 

project, including if applicable, the ratio 

of loans to grants, and any other source 

of outside funding, especially any other 

Recovery Act funds under other federal 

programs, and an explanation of the 

reasonableness of the unit price and 

total number of units required for the 

project; 

xii. Pro Forma financial analysis 

related to the sustainability of the 

project, including subscriber estimates 

and proposed service offerings in 

addition to broadband Internet access; 

annual financial projections including 

balance sheets, income statements, and 

cash flow statements and supporting 

assumptions for a five-year forecast 

period as applicable; and a list of 

committed sources of capital funding; 

xiii. Historical financial statements, 

Certified Public Accountant (CPA) 

audits if applicable, for the previous two 

calendar years; 

xiv. Certifications required in the 

application; 

xv. For BIP applicants only: 

(1) A self-scoring sheet, analyzing the 

objective scoring criteria set forth in this 

NOFA; 

(2) The pricing package being offered 

to critical community facilities, if any; 

and 

(3) Evidence that the applicant is a 

socially and economically 

disadvantaged small business concern 

(SDB) as defined under section 8(a) of 

the SBA. 

xvi. For BTOP applicants only: 

(1) A description of how the applicant 

will advance the objectives of the 

Recovery Act, as well as the specific 

objectives of BTOP, (a) to provide access 

to broadband service to consumers 

residing in unserved areas of the 

country; (b) to provide improved access 

to broadband service to consumers 

residing in underserved areas of the 

country; (c) to provide broadband 

access, education, awareness, training, 

equipment, and support to community 

anchor institutions (e.g., schools, 

libraries, medical facilities), or 

organizations and agencies serving 

vulnerable populations (e.g., lowincome, unemployed, aged), or jobcreating strategic facilities located in 

state or federally designated economic 

development areas; (d) to improve 

access to, and use of, broadband service 

by public safety agencies; and (e) to 

stimulate the demand for broadband, 

economic growth, and job creation; 

(2) A demonstration of need for grant 

funding, including documentation 

demonstrating that a project would be 

unfeasible but for federal assistance; 

(3) A description of how the applicant 

will enhance services for health care 

delivery, education, and children to the 

greatest population of users in the area; 

(4) Additional verification related to 

the non-discrimination and 

interconnection obligations set forth in 

this NOFA; 

(5) The percentage of matching funds 

the applicant will contribute to the 

project, and its percentage of the total 

cost, as well as the specific amounts that 

are in cash or in-kind; 

(6) Whether the applicant receives 

any federal support for non-recurring 

costs in the proposed funded service 

area; and 

(7) To the extent applicable, evidence 

of collaboration with any socially and 

economically disadvantaged small 

business concern (SDB) as defined 

under section 8(a) of the SBA, that may 

include a sub-awardee, contractor, 

subcontractor, or vendor, and the source 

and amount of any federal or state 

funding, including Universal Service 

Fund funds, that applicant has received, 

or requested, for the activities or 

projects to which the application 

relates. 

b. Verification Filing Requirements for 

Step Two of the Application Process 

As discussed above, those 

applications that are considered to be 

most highly qualified (i.e., receiving the 

highest scores), will advance to the 

second step of the review process. 

Specifically, in the ‘‘due diligence’’ 

phase, applicants will be asked to 

submit additional information, as 

appropriate, to further substantiate the 

representations made in their 

application. Although this ‘‘due 

diligence’’ phase applies to all three 

categories of projects—Broadband 


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Infrastructure, Public Computer Center, 

and Sustainable Adoption—it is most 

applicable to Broadband Infrastructure 

Projects. This phase will be announced 

no earlier than September 14, 2009. The 

following information must then be 

submitted to the agencies online at 

http://www.broadbandusa.gov by 

October 15, 2009, or, alternatively, 30 

days after the applicant has received a 

request from RUS or NTIA to provide 

such information, whichever is later. 

i. A list of all its outstanding and 

contingent obligations, including copies 

of existing notes, loan and security 

agreements, and guarantees; 

ii. A detailed description of working 

capital requirements and the source of 

these funds; 

iii. A detailed description of the 

proposed technology that will be used 

to provide service at the proposed 

broadband speed. This description must 

clearly demonstrate that all households 

and businesses in the proposed funded 

service area will be offered service at the 

proposed broadband speed; 

iv. A detailed construction build-out 

schedule that includes a description of 

the necessary work force, a timeline 

demonstrating project completion 

within the required timeframe, a 

depreciation schedule for the proposed 

facilities; 

v. A completed Environmental 

Questionnaire, other documentation 

requests, and required environmental 

authorizations and permits, including 

those required by the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) 

(NEPA), the National Historic 

Preservation Act of 1966, as amended 

(16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.) (NHPA), and the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (16 U.S.C. 1534 et seq.) (ESA) 

as applicable; 

vi. For purposes of the step two due 

diligence verification process, 

applicants will need to be prepared to 

provide any of the underlying 

documentation that is referenced in the 

application, as appropriate; and 

vii. For BIP only, a description of 

measurable service metrics and target 

service level objectives (SLOs) (e.g., the 

speed with which new service will be 

established, service availability, and 

response time for reports of system 

failure at a residence) that will be 

provided to the customer, and a 

description of the approach and 

methodology for monitoring ongoing 

service delivery and service quality for 

the services being employed. 

2. Public Computer Centers 

Applications 

Applications for Public Computer 

Center projects must contain the 

following information: 

a. The identity of the applicant and 

general applicant and project 

information including: 

i. A descriptive title of the project that 

will be made public consistent with the 

requirements of the Recovery Act, 

ii. The Congressional Districts 

affected by the project, 

iii. The dollar amount of the funding 

request; 

b. Verification that the application 

meets certain eligibility factors, 

including submission of a complete 

application with all supplemental 

documentation, commitment to 

substantial completion of the project 

within two years and project completion 

within three years of the award date, 

demonstration that the project advances 

at least one of BTOP’s five statutory 

purposes, commitment to or a waiver for 

the cost matching requirement, 

demonstration that a project could not 

be completed in the grant period but for 

federal funding, demonstration that the 

project is technically feasible, and that 

the budget is reasonable and all costs 

are eligible; 

c. An executive summary of the 

project, including the problem or need 

the project addresses and the approach 

to addressing the need; the area to be 

served, population and demographics of 

the target area, and estimated number of 

potential users of the public computer 

center(s); qualifications of the applicant; 

jobs to be created or saved; and overall 

cost of the project; 

d. A description of the project 

purpose, including the significance of 

the problem to be addressed and the 

degree to which the proposed solution 

effectively addresses the problem and 

could be replicated by other 

organizations; the degree to which the 

problem and proposed solution advance 

at least one of BTOP’s five statutory 

purposes; and whether and how the 

project incorporates more than one 

BTOP program category or BTOP 

statutory purpose; 

e. A description of any collaboration 

with Recovery Act or other state or 

federal development programs that 

leverage the impact of the proposed 

project; 

f. A description of how the program 

would enhance service for health care 

delivery, education, or children; 

g. Evidence of collaboration with any 

SDB as defined by section 8(a) of the 

SBA, that may include a sub-awardee, 

contractor, subcontractor, or vendor; 

h. The capacity of the proposed 

public computer center(s) and areas and 

populations to be served, including 

whether the facility will be available to 

the general public or specific 

populations, whether the center(s) 

charges membership fees and if so how 

these charges are consistent with the 

public interest, any restrictions of the 

use of the center(s), how the center will 

be accessible to persons with 

disabilities, the locations and hours of 

the center(s), current and proposed 

number of broadband workstations, 

current and proposed speed of the 

center(s) broadband connection, the size 

and scope of the target population and 

the populations to be served by the 

center(s), the outreach strategy for the 

center(s), the equipment and software 

that will be provided, and the training 

and educational programs that will be 

offered; 

i. A summary as to the viability of the 

project, including the overall technology 

strategy to be deployed by the project; 

qualifications of the organization and 

management team, including a 

description of organizational readiness 

and an organizational chart; a list of 

community organizations, partners, 

vendors, or contributors of in-kind 

resources involved in the project and 

whether any of those involved entities 

are socially or economically 

disadvantaged partners; a project 

timeline that established key milestones 

for implementation of the project as 

well as potential challenges that could 

pose delays; a list of needed licensing 

and regulatory approvals; and a legal 

opinion addressing the applicant’s 

ability to enter into the award 

agreement; 

j. Proposed budget and sustainability 

information from the applicant 

including a narrative explaining the 

project budget, an explanation of why 

the proposed costs are reasonable, 

demonstration that the project could not 

have been undertaken during the grant 

period but for federal assistance, 

organization financial statements for the 

last two years, explanation of how a 

project will become self-sustaining, 

description of the planned matching 

funds for the project or a waiver, as 

applicable, whether the project is 

receiving or has applied for federal 

support for non-recurring costs, 

disclosure of other federal or state 

funding, and whether the applicant is 

seeking a waiver of the Buy American 

provision; and 

k. Completion of an environmental 

checklist and applicable certifications. 


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3. Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

Applications 

Applications for Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption projects must 

contain the following information: 

a. The identity of the applicant and 

general applicant and project 

information including: 

i. A descriptive title of the project that 

will be made public consistent with the 

requirements of the Recovery Act, 

ii. The Congressional Districts 

affected by the project, 

iii. The dollar amount of the funding 

request; 

b. Verification that the application 

meets certain eligibility factors, 

including submission of a complete 

application with all supplemental 

documentation, commitment to 

substantial completion of the project 

within two years and project completion 

within three years of the award date, 

demonstration that the project advances 

at least one of BTOP’s five statutory 

purposes, commitment to or a waiver for 

the cost matching requirement, 

demonstration that a project could not 

be completed in the grant period but for 

federal funding, demonstration that the 

project is technically feasible, and that 

the budget is reasonable and all costs 

are eligible; 

c. An executive summary of the 

project, including the problem or need 

the project addresses and the approach 

to addressing the need, and how that 

approach is innovative; the area to be 

served, population and demographics of 

the target area, and estimated number of 

potential broadband subscribers the 

project will reach; qualifications of the 

applicant; jobs to be created or saved; 

and overall cost of the project; 

d. A description of the project 

purpose, including the significance of 

the problem to be addressed and the 

degree to which the proposed solution 

effectively addresses the problem and 

could be replicated by other 

organizations; the degree to which the 

problem and proposed solution advance 

at least one of BTOP’s five statutory 

purposes; and whether and how the 

project incorporates more than one 

BTOP program category or BTOP 

statutory purpose; 

e. A description of any collaboration 

with Recovery Act or other state or 

federal development programs that 

leverage the impact of the proposed 

project; 

f. A description of how the program 

would enhance service for health care 

delivery, education, or children; 

g. Evidence of collaboration with any 

SDB as defined under section 8(a) of the 

SBA, that may include a sub-awardee, 

contractor, subcontractor, or vendor; 

h. A description of the project 

benefits, including how the approach to 

solve the identified problem is 

innovative; the number of new home, 

business, and institutional broadband 

subscribers expected to be generated; 

the populations to be served by the 

project; the total cost of the project per 

new subscriber; if proposing a training 

or educational program, how many 

people it will reach, the hours of 

training per person, the number of 

instructors to be employed, and planned 

equipment purchases and overall cost of 

these devices; if proposing an 

equipment purchase or loan program, 

the number of households, businesses, 

and institutions that will be provided 

equipment and the total cost to the 

customer; if proposing an awareness 

campaign, the number of people 

expected to be reached, the strategies to 

be used in the campaign, how impact of 

the campaign will be measured, and the 

organization’s previous experience with 

this type of campaign; 

i. A summary as to the viability of the 

project, including an explanation of the 

innovative operational solution 

proposed, how it will create sustainable 

adoption in the target population, and 

how it could be feasible in other 

situations; qualifications of the 

organization and management team, 

including a description of 

organizational readiness and an 

organizational chart; a list of community 

organizations, partners, vendors, or 

contributors of in-kind resources 

involved in the project and whether any 

of those involved entities are socially or 

economically disadvantaged partners; a 

project timeline that established key 

milestones for implementation of the 

project as well as potential challenges 

that could pose delays; a list of needed 

licensing and regulatory approvals; and 

a legal opinion addressing the 

applicant’s ability to enter into the 

award agreement; 

j. Proposed budget and sustainability 

information from the applicant 

including a narrative explaining the 

project budget, an explanation of why 

the proposed costs are reasonable, 

demonstration that the project could not 

have been undertaken during the grant 

period but for federal assistance, 

organization financial statements for the 

last two years, explanation of how the 

project will create sustainable increases 

in subscribership and how the project 

itself could be sustained beyond the 

grant period, description of the planned 

matching funds for the project or a 

waiver, as applicable, whether the 

project is receiving or has applied for 

federal support for non-recurring costs, 

disclosure of other federal or state 

funding, and whether the applicant is 

seeking a waiver of the Buy American 

provision; and 

k. Completion of an environmental 

checklist and applicable certifications. 

E. Filing Instructions 

1. Electronic Applications 

Electronic submissions of 

applications will allow for the 

expeditious review of an applicant’s 

proposal consistent with the goals of the 

Recovery Act. As a result, all applicants 

requesting more than $1 million in 

assistance (in the form of grants, loans, 

or a combination of grants and loans) 

must file their application 

electronically. Applicants whose 

authorized representatives are 

individuals with disabilities, however, 

may submit a paper application 

irrespective of the funding size of their 

request. In addition, applicants who are 

requesting less than $1 million in 

assistance may forego the electronic 

filing requirement if filing electronically 

would impose a hardship on the 

applicant. 

2. Paper Applications 

a. Format 

Applicants requesting less than $1 

million in assistance (in the form of 

grants, loans, or a combination of grants 

and loans) may file their applications in 

a paper format if filing electronically 

would impose a hardship on the 

applicants. Applicants whose 

authorized representatives are 

individuals with disabilities may file 

their applications in a paper format 

irrespective of the funding size of their 

request. To the extent that applicants 

use electronic word processing software 

to create paper submissions, they 

should include in their filing, to the 

extent possible, an electronic copy of 

the paper application on an appropriate 

media such as a CD. 

The application package for paper 

submissions must be completed in black 

or blue ink, signed and mailed to the 

addresses provided in the Mailing 

Addresses section of this document 

(section E.2.d.). The application must be 

typed, single-sided, single-spaced, on 

81⁄2′′ x 11′′ paper, excluding diagrams 

and charts. Use a font of no less than 12 

points with margins of no less than one 

inch. Reviewers will be instructed to 

ignore any portion of the application 

that extends beyond the prescribed page 

limits provided in the application. 

b. Number of Copies 

Applicants filing paper copies should 

submit one original and one copy of the 

application for efficient processing. 


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c. Proof of Mailing 

Applications must include proof of 

mailing consisting of one of the 

following: 

i. A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service 

postmark. Please note that the U.S. 

Postal Service does not uniformly 

provide a dated postmark. Before 

relying on this method, applicants 

should check with their local post 

office. 

ii. A legible mail receipt with the date 

of mailing stamped by the U.S. Postal 

Service. 

iii. A dated shipping label, invoice, or 

receipt from a commercial carrier. 

Neither of the following will be 

accepted as proof of mailing: a private 

metered postmark; nor a mail receipt 

that is not dated by the U.S. Postal 

Service. 

Applications with postmarked dates 

after August 14, 2009, will not be 

considered in the current grant round 

and will be returned to the applicant. 

Applications will NOT be accepted via 

facsimile machine transmission. 

d. Mailing Addresses 

Completed applications must be 

mailed, shipped, or sent overnight 

express to: 

i. NTIA 

Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program, National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, 1401 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., HCHB, Room 4812, 

Washington, DC 20230. 

or hand-delivered to: 

Broadband Technology Opportunities 

Program, National 

Telecommunications and Information 

Administration, U.S. Department of 

Commerce, HCHB, Room 1874, 1401 

Constitution Avenue, NW., 

Washington, DC 20230. 

Room 1874 is located at entrance #10 

on 15th Street, NW., between 

Pennsylvania and Constitution 

Avenues. 

United States Postal Service Priority 

Mail, First Class Mail, and Parcel Post 

packages delivered to the Department of 

Commerce are irradiated. Irradiation 

could result in damage to the contents, 

or delay the delivery of an application 

to the BTOP Program Office. Thus, 

applicants are encouraged to consider 

the impact of these procedures in 

selecting their chosen method for 

application delivery. 

ii. RUS 

Broadband Initiatives Program, Rural 

Utilities Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Stop 1599, Washington, 

DC 20250. 

or hand-delivered to: 

Broadband Initiatives Program, Rural 

Utilities Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture, 1400 Independence 

Avenue, SW., Room 2868, 

Washington, DC 20250. 

iii. Signatures 

Applicants filing in a paper format 

must submit an original signed copy of 

their application and certifications. 

Applicants filing electronically may 

submit an electronic signature for their 

application by registering at http:// 

www.ccr.gov. 

F. Submission Dates and Times 

Electronic applications must be 

submitted between July 14, 2009, at 8 

a.m. ET and 5 p.m. ET on August 14, 

2009. The electronic application system 

at http://www.broadbandusa.gov will 

provide a date and time stamped 

confirmation number that will serve as 

proof of submission. Paper submissions 

must be postmarked no later than 

August 14, 2009, or hand-delivered no 

later than 5 p.m. ET on August 14, 2009. 

Applications delivered by guaranteed 

carrier services will be considered 

postmarked on the date they are 

submitted to the carrier. 

No application will be accepted after 

the submission date unless: 1. There 

was a carrier error and the carrier 

accepted the application for delivery 

prior to the submission deadline; or 2. 

there were significant weather delays or 

natural disasters as declared by federal 

or state authorities and the applicant 

submits proper documentation 

explaining the delay. 

G. Material Representations 

The application, including 

certifications, and all forms submitted 

as part of the application will be treated 

as a material representation of fact upon 

which RUS and NTIA will rely in 

awarding grants. 

H. Material Revisions 

No material revision will be permitted 

for any application after the submission 

deadline, unless such revision is 

requested by RUS and NTIA. RUS and 

NTIA, however, may request 

clarifications or submissions for 

completeness that are non-material. 

VII. Application Review Information 

A. Evaluation Criteria 

The scoring criteria used to review 

and analyze BIP and BTOP applications 

are grouped into four categories: 1. 

Project Purpose; 2. Project Benefits; 3. 

Project Viability; and 4. Project Budget 

and Sustainability. Each application 

will be scored against the following 

objective criteria, and not against other 

applications. This section describes the 

evaluation criteria first for BIP 

Broadband Infrastructure projects, then 

for the three BTOP project categories. 

1. BIP Broadband Infrastructure Projects 

a. General 

In accordance with the Recovery Act, 

the priority for BIP is to provide and 

improve broadband service to the 

highest proportion of rural residents 

who do not have adequate access to 

broadband service for rural 

development, which RUS defines to 

mean rural residents who reside in 

unserved and underserved rural areas. 

Additionally, the Recovery Act 

mandates that priority be given to 

projects which: i. Give end users a 

choice of providers; ii. serve the highest 

proportion of rural residents that lack 

access to broadband service; iii. are 

projects of current or former RUS 

borrowers (Title II borrowers); and iv. 

are fully funded and ready to start once 

Recovery Act funding is received. 

Lastly, coordination with other federal, 

state, and local programs, including 

Recovery Act programs, is highly 

encouraged as a way to more efficiently 

and effectively achieve program 

objectives. 

b. Project Purpose (25 Points) 

i. Proportion of Rural Residents 

Served in Unserved Areas (5 points). 

Points will be awarded for serving rural 

residents located in unserved areas. For 

every 10,000 unserved households that 

will receive broadband service, one 

point will be awarded up to a maximum 

of five points. 

ii. Rural Area Targeting (5 points). 

Points will be awarded for exceeding 

the 75 percent rural area service 

requirement. For every five percent 

increase in the rural service area above 

the 75 percent rural area service 

requirement, one point will be awarded 

up to a maximum of five points. 

iii. Remote Area Targeting (5 points). 

Up to five points will be awarded for 

proposed funded service areas that are 

at least 50 miles from a non-rural area. 

If at least one proposed funded service 

area is a minimum of 50 miles from a 

non-rural area, one point will be 

awarded. For each additional 50 miles 

that at least one proposed funded 

service area is located away from a nonrural area, one additional point will be 

awarded up to a total of five points. 

iv. Title II Borrowers (5 points). Five 

points will be awarded to applications 


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39See Recovery Act § 6001(b), 123 Stat. at 512– 

13 (to provide broadband access to unserved areas; 

to provide improved broadband access to 

underserved areas; to provide broadband access, 

education, and support to community anchor 

institutions, or organizations and agencies serving 

vulnerable populations, or job-creating strategic 

facilities located in state- or federally designated 

economic development areas; to improve access to, 

and use of, broadband service by public safety 

agencies; and to stimulate the demand for 

broadband, economic growth, and job creation). 

which are submitted by entities which 

have borrowed under Title II of the RE 

Act. 

v. Recovery Act and other 

governmental collaboration (5 points). 

Points will be awarded for cooperation 

with other governmental development 

programs as well as coordination with 

Recovery Act construction projects. 

Examples include the Department of 

Energy’s Smart Grid, Investment 

Program, the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development’s Public 

Housing Capital Fund, the Department 

of Transportation’s Capital Assistance 

for High Speed Rail Corridors and 

Intercity Passenger Service program, 

and other investments where 

collaboration would lead to greater 

project efficiencies. In each case, the 

applicant must convincingly 

demonstrate that these leveraging efforts 

are substantive and meaningful. One 

point will be awarded for each 

partnered governmental or Recovery Act 

program that has demonstrated such a 

partnership is substantive and 

meaningful up to a maximum of five 

points. 

c. Project Benefits (25 Points) 

i. Performance of the offered service 

(10 points). For Last Mile Projects: For 

wireline projects that are constructed to 

deliver a minimum of 20 megabit per 

second service to the household 

(upstream plus downstream), ten points 

will be awarded. For wireless projects 

that are constructed to deliver a 

minimum of two megabits per second 

service to the end user (upstream plus 

downstream), ten points will be 

awarded. For projects that are a 

combination of wireline and wireless 

projects, both of the above standards 

must be met for the corresponding parts 

of the network in order to receive the 

ten points. For Middle Mile Projects: 

For middle mile projects that are 

constructed to deliver 100 megabits per 

second service to all end points in their 

network, ten points will be awarded. 

ii. Affordability of services offered (5 

points). RUS will evaluate the level of 

support that is provided and award up 

to five points for applications that 

demonstrate that the proposed rates for 

the broadband service are affordable for 

the targeted audience. The stronger the 

level of support that is provided, the 

higher the number of points that will be 

awarded. 

iii. Choice of provider (5 points). Five 

points will be awarded to applications 

that propose to construct infrastructure 

and implement a business plan which 

would allow more than one provider to 

serve end users in the proposed funded 

service area. 

iv. Critical community facilities (5 

points). For applications that are 

proposing to offer discounted rate 

packages at least 25 percent lower than 

the advertised rate packages to all 

critical community facilities in the 

proposed funded service area, five 

points will be awarded. 

d. Project Viability (25 Points) 

i. Applicant’s organizational 

capability (12 points). Up to twelve 

points will be awarded based on the 

strength of the project’s management 

team. RUS will evaluate past 

performance and accomplishments and 

award points accordingly. 

ii. Community support (2 points). Up 

to two points will be awarded if letters 

of support are received from all 

communities in the proposed funded 

service area from the designated 

community leader. 

iii. Ability to promptly start project 

(10 points). Ten points will be awarded 

if the applicant can provide evidence 

that the following conditions have been 

satisfied: 

(1) All licenses, franchises and 

regulatory approvals required to operate 

the system and provide the proposed 

services have been received; 

(2) That the required contractors and 

vendors necessary to implement the 

project are prepared to enter into 

contracts as soon as funds are made 

available; 

(3) That all required equity 

contributions have been transferred into 

the applicant’s accounts; and 

(4) That the project timeline and 

milestones are reasonable. 

iv. Disadvantaged small businesses (1 

point). One point will be awarded to 

applicants that meet the definition of a 

socially and economically 

disadvantaged small business concern 

under section 8(a) of the SBA. 

e. Project Budget and Sustainability (25 

Points) 

i. Reasonableness of the budget (5 

points). Up to five points will be 

awarded based on the clarity and 

reasonableness of the proposed budget. 

ii. Leverage of outside resources (10 

points). Up to ten points will be 

awarded based on the amount of outside 

resources contributed to the total 

financing provided under BIP: 

(1) 10 points if this ratio is greater 

than 100% 

(2) 7 points if this ratio is between 

100% and 75% 

(3) 5 points if this ratio is between 

75% and 50% 

(4) 3 points if this ratio is between 

50% and 25% 

(5) 1 point if this ratio is lower than 

25%. 

iii. Extent of grant funding (10 

points). Up to ten points will be 

awarded based on the amount of grants 

funds requested in relation to the 

amount of loan funds requested (grant 

funds/loan funds): 

(1) 0 points if grant funds are 100% 

(2) 1 point if this ratio is between 

100% and 75% 

(3) 3 points if this ratio is between 

75% and 50% 

(4) 5 points if this ratio is lower than 

50% 

(5) 10 points if this ratio is zero. 

2. BTOP Broadband Infrastructure, 

Public Computer Center, and 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

Projects 

a. General 

The evaluation criteria for BTOP 

projects will be the same across the 

BTOP project categories except: i. Under 

the Project Benefits section, different 

evaluation criteria and scoring 

methodologies are applied to each 

project category; ii. the Technical 

Feasibility criterion under the Project 

Viability heading is subdivided between 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

projects and all other BTOP project 

categories; and iii. the Sustainability 

criterion under the Budget and 

Sustainability heading is similarly 

subdivided between Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption projects and all 

other BTOP project categories. These 

variations are detailed in the 

descriptions of the evaluation criteria 

below. 

b. Project Purpose (30 Points) 

i. Fit with statutory purposes. 

Applications will be evaluated with 

respect to each of BTOP’s statutory 

purposes.39 Reviewers will consider, 

relative to each purpose, whether the 

applicant is addressing a compelling 

problem of the sort that the statute is 

intended to resolve, whether the 

applicant has offered an effective 

solution to that problem, and whether 

the proposed solution is of broad 

significance and includes developments 

that can be replicated to improve future 

projects. Additional consideration will 

be given to projects located partially or 

wholly unserved or underserved areas 


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40See id. § 6001(h)(2)(C), 123 Stat. at 515. 

of a state as described by the state 

submission in the State Broadband Data 

and Development Grant Program or as 

otherwise determined by NTIA. 

Additional consideration will also be 

given to applicants that address more 

than one statutory purpose and project 

category (e.g., Broadband Infrastructure, 

Public Computer Centers, or Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption) in a convincing 

manner. 

ii. Recovery Act and other 

governmental collaboration. Applicants 

will be evaluated on their collaboration 

with Recovery Act or other federal or 

state development programs that 

leverage the impact of the proposed 

project. Examples include the 

Department of Energy’s Smart Grid 

Investment Program, the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development’s 

Public Housing Capital Fund, the 

Department of Transportation’s Capital 

Assistance for High-Speed Rail 

Corridors and Intercity Passenger 

Service program, and other investments 

where collaboration would lead to 

greater project efficiencies. In each case, 

the applicant must convincingly 

demonstrate that these leveraging efforts 

are substantive and meaningful. 

iii. Enhanced service for health care 

delivery, education, and children. 

Reviewers will assess the depth and 

breadth of the project’s ability to 

enhance broadband service for health 

care delivery, education, and children 

as contemplated by the Recovery Act.40

Projects would need to demonstrate that 

they go beyond providing access to 

broadband to include more robust 

educational, health care, or related 

broadband service delivery. 

iv. Socially and economically 

disadvantaged small businesses. 

Reviewers will grant consideration to 

applicants that certify they meet the 

statutory definition of a socially and 

economically disadvantaged small 

business concern, or that have 

established agreements in principle to 

contract with socially and economically 

disadvantaged businesses that meet that 

definition. 

c. Project Benefits (25 Points) 

Reviewers will evaluate the various 

benefits that the proposed project will 

provide. This criterion will be focused 

primarily on measuring the benefits of 

the proposed project. Due to the broad 

scope of the three project categories and 

the expected diversity of proposed 

projects, the specific elements to be 

evaluated under this heading vary from 

one project category to another, as 

described below. 

i. BTOP Broadband Infrastructure Last 

Mile Projects 

(1) Cost-effectiveness. Applications 

will be scored on the project’s costefficiency based on the ratio of the total 

cost of the project to households passed. 

(2) Performance of the offered service. 

Applications will be scored for the 

extent to which the advertised speed for 

the network’s highest offered speed tier 

exceeds the minimum speed 

requirement for broadband service (768 

kbps downstream and 200 kbps 

upstream). Networks will be graded on 

a sliding scale with higher end-user 

speeds receiving a higher score. 

Proposed networks with high latency 

will be viewed unfavorably. Applicants 

may gain additional consideration if the 

applicant can demonstrate a clear and 

affordable upgrade path for the network. 

(3) Affordability of services offered. 

Projects will be evaluated on the pricing 

of the services offered compared to 

existing broadband services in the 

proposed funded service area. If there 

are no existing broadband services in 

the proposed funded service area, 

projects will be evaluated on the ability 

of the applicant to convincingly 

demonstrate that their proposed pricing 

is appropriate for the service area. 

(4) Nondiscrimination, 

interconnection, and choice of provider. 

Applications will be scored on the 

extent to which the applicant commits 

to exceeding the minimum requirements 

for interconnection and 

nondiscrimination established in 

section V.C.2.b. of this NOFA. 

Additional consideration will be given 

for displaying the network’s 

nondiscrimination and interconnection 

policies in a prominent location on the 

service provider’s Web page, and 

providing notice to customers of 

changes to these policies. Additional 

consideration will be given to 

applicants that commit to offering 

wholesale access to the project facilities 

at reasonable rates and terms. 

Additional consideration will also be 

given to applicants that commit to 

binding private arbitration of disputes 

concerning the awardees’ 

interconnection obligations as explained 

above in section V.C.2.b of this NOFA. 

Reviewers will also consider whether 

the application proposes to construct 

infrastructure and implement a business 

plan which would allow more than one 

provider to serve end users in the 

proposed funded service area. 

ii. BTOP Broadband Infrastructure 

Middle Mile Projects 

For purposes of evaluating BTOP 

Middle Mile projects, applicants should 

define the area that will directly benefit 

from the project, including the 

community anchor institutions and end 

users that may receive broadband 

service through the proposed middle 

mile network. 

(1) Impact on the area. Applications 

will be scored on how great an impact 

they would have on the area. Reviewers 

will consider the number of end-points 

and points of interconnection the 

network will offer and the proposed 

connections to last mile networks, 

community anchor institutions, or 

public safety entities, as well as the 

projected number of new end users 

served by those proposed connections. 

(2) Level of need in the area. 

Applications will be scored on the level 

of need for a middle mile network in the 

area. Reviewers will consider whether 

there are middle mile providers already 

present in all or part of the area, as well 

as the pricing and available capacity of 

those providers. Reviewers will also 

consider what proportion of the 

network’s end-points, points of 

interconnection, and projected end 

users are located in unserved or 

underserved areas. In addition, 

reviewers will also consider applicants’ 

explanation of why their proposed 

project is well-suited to address the 

needs of the area. 

(3) Network capacity. Applicants will 

be evaluated on the capacity of the 

network. The network should provide 

capacity sufficient to serve the 

anticipated last mile networks, 

community anchor institutions, and 

public safety entities, and the number of 

end users served by them, as projected 

by the applicant, taking into 

consideration the nature of the services 

that these institutions and end users are 

likely to seek to utilize the network for. 

Reviewers will give additional 

consideration to projects that will be 

scalable to meet the future needs of the 

area. 

(4) Affordability of services offered. 

Projects will be evaluated on the pricing 

of the services offered compared to 

existing broadband services in the 

proposed funded service area. If there 

are no existing broadband services in 

the proposed funded service area, 

projects will be evaluated on the ability 

of the applicant to convincingly 

demonstrate that their proposed pricing 

for middle mile services is appropriate 

for the proposed funded service area. 

(5) Nondiscrimination, 

interconnection, and choice of provider. 

Applications will be scored on the 

extent to which the applicant commits 

to exceeding the minimum requirements 

for interconnection and 

nondiscrimination established in 


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section V.C.2.b. of this NOFA. 

Additional consideration will be given 

for displaying the network’s 

nondiscrimination and interconnection 

policies in a prominent location on the 

service provider’s web page, and 

providing notice to customers of 

changes to these policies. Additional 

consideration will be given to 

applicants that commit to offering 

wholesale access to network 

components and services such as 

wavelength or fibers at reasonable rates 

and terms. Additional consideration 

will also be given to applicants that 

commit to binding private arbitration of 

disputes concerning the awardees’ 

interconnection obligations as explained 

above in section V.C.2.b of this NOFA. 

Reviewers will also consider whether 

the application proposes to construct 

infrastructure and implement a business 

plan which would allow more than one 

provider to serve end users in the 

proposed funded service area. 

iii. BTOP Public Computer Center 

Projects 

(1) Availability to the public. 

Applications will be scored on the 

availability of the computer center to 

the public. Reviewers will consider the 

capacity of the computer center, its 

hours of availability, any membership or 

usage fees charged, restrictions on 

usage, the proportionality of the 

computer center’s capacity and hours of 

availability to the population the 

applicant proposes to serve, public 

outreach, and the computer center’s 

accessibility to persons with disabilities, 

accounting for both the physical 

accessibility of the facility and the 

accessibility of the computer equipment 

and software. 

(2) Training and educational 

programs offered. Applicants will be 

scored on the availability, accessibility, 

and quality of training and educational 

programs offered through the computer 

center. Reviewers will consider the 

degree to which the programs meet the 

relevant needs of the community. 

(3) Availability and qualifications of 

consulting and teaching staff. 

Applications will be evaluated on the 

strength of the consulting and teaching 

staff at the computer center. Reviewers 

will consider the qualifications and 

training required of such staff as well as 

whether the number of available staff is 

sufficient for the capacity of the 

computer center. 

iv. BTOP Sustainable Broadband 

Adoption 

(1) Number of new users. 

Applications will be scored on the 

number of new broadband subscribers 

and other regular users the project will 

generate. Reviewers will take into 

consideration both the overall number 

of new subscribers and users and the 

proportion that these new subscribers 

and users represent of the number of 

non-subscribers and non-users in the 

relevant area. 

(2) Cost per new user. Applications 

will be evaluated on the costeffectiveness of the program. Reviewers 

will consider cost per projected new 

subscriber or other regular user, taking 

into account the applicant’s explanation 

of why the approach selected is a costeffective approach given the particular 

circumstances of the project. 

(3) Innovation. Applications will be 

evaluated on the degree to which the 

project demonstrates replicable new 

ideas, approaches, and methods to 

encourage sustainable broadband 

adoption. 

d. Project Viability (25 Points) 

i. The technical feasibility of the 

proposed project. For BTOP Broadband 

Infrastructure and Public Computer 

Center projects: applications will be 

scored on the comprehensiveness and 

appropriateness of the technical 

solution and the clarity, level of detail, 

and coherence of the system designs. In 

order to receive a full score, applicants 

must demonstrate that the project 

includes developments that will be 

feasible in other situations. For 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

projects: reviewers will assess the 

mechanics and operational details of the 

project. Applicants will be scored on the 

clarity and detail of their project plan, 

how convincing the rationale behind the 

plan is, and whether they can 

demonstrate that the plan includes 

innovative solutions that would be 

feasible in other situations. 

ii. Applicant’s organizational 

capability. Reviewers will assess 

whether the applicant has the 

organizational capability necessary to 

undertake and complete the project. 

Reviewers will consider the years of 

experience and expertise of the project 

management team, and the past track 

record of the organization with projects 

of a similar size and scope, as well as 

the organization’s capacity and 

readiness. 

iii. The level of community 

involvement in the project. Reviewers 

will evaluate linkages to unaffiliated 

organizations in the project area (from 

the public, non-profit, and private 

sectors), particularly community anchor 

institutions and public safety 

organizations, as an ongoing and 

integral part of the project planning and 

operation. In order to receive the full 

score for this criterion, at least one 

partner should meet the definition of a 

socially and economically 

disadvantaged small business concern 

under section 8(a) of the SBA—these 

partners must be distinct from any 

contractor or related entity specified for 

the purposes of the socially 

disadvantaged small businesses 

criterion in Project Purpose. Applicants 

should demonstrate that each linkage is 

substantial and meaningful. 

iv. Ability to promptly start project. 

Projects will be evaluated on whether 

they will be able to start promptly and 

be completed in an appropriate 

timeframe for the size and scope of the 

project. Reviewers will consider the 

planned start date of the project, the 

reasonableness of the project timeline 

and associated milestones, whether the 

applicant has secured all licenses, 

franchises, and regulatory approvals 

required to complete the project, and 

whether the required contractors and 

vendors necessary to implement the 

project are prepared to enter into 

contracts as soon as the funds are made 

available. 

e. Project Budget and Sustainability (20 

Points) 

i. Reasonableness of the budget. 

Reviewers will evaluate the 

reasonableness of the budget based on 

its clarity, level of detail, 

comprehensiveness, appropriateness to 

the proposed technical and 

programmatic solutions, the 

reasonableness of its costs, and whether 

the allocation of funds is sufficient to 

complete the tasks outlined in the 

project plan. 

ii. Sustainability of the project. For 

BTOP Broadband Infrastructure and 

Public Computer Center projects: 

Applicants must convincingly 

demonstrate the ability of the project to 

be sustained beyond the funding period. 

Reviewers will consider business plans, 

market projections, third-party funding 

commitments, and other data as may be 

appropriate to the nature of the 

applicant and the proposed project. For 

Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

projects: Reviewers will consider both 

whether the project will be sustained 

beyond the funding period and whether 

the increases in broadband adoption 

rates in the project area caused by the 

project will be sustained beyond the 

conclusion of the project. 

iii. Leverage of outside resources. The 

applicant must demonstrate the ability 

to provide, from non-federal sources, 

funds required to meet or exceed the 20 

percent matching funds requirement 

unless a waiver of that requirement has 

been requested. Reviewers will give 


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additional consideration to proposals 

that exceed the minimum matching 

requirement, provide cash matches, or 

receive matching funds from acceptable 

federal sources as described in section 

V.C.4.b of this NOFA. For purposes of 

this evaluation, applicants that have 

received a full or partial waiver of the 

cost-matching requirement will be 

treated as having provided a 20 percent 

non-cash match. 

B. Notice of Proposed Funded Service 

Areas 

RUS and NTIA will post a Public 

Notice of the proposed funded service 

areas of each Broadband Infrastructure 

application at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov for a 30-day 

period. The Public Notice will provide 

existing service providers an 

opportunity to submit to the agencies 

information regarding their service 

offerings. If an existing service provider 

submits a response outside the 

timeframe specified in this NOFA, it 

will not be considered an existing 

service provider for determining 

whether the applicant’s service area is 

eligible, but will still be considered with 

respect to the agencies’ other applicable 

eligibility requirements. The 

information submitted by an existing 

service provider will be treated as 

proprietary and confidential to the 

extent permitted under applicable law. 

If the information submitted by an 

existing service provider demonstrates 

that the applicant’s proposed funded 

service area is not unserved, both RUS 

and NTIA reserve the right to reclassify 

the application and consider the 

proposed area as underserved if the 

application meets the criteria in the 

underserved definition. If the 

information submitted by an existing 

service provider establishes that the 

applicant’s proposed funded service 

area is not underserved, both RUS and 

NTIA may reject the application. 

VIII. Anticipated Announcement and 

Award Dates 

A. Announcement Date 

RUS and NTIA intend to announce 

the awards starting on or about 

November 7, 2009. 

B. RUS Loan and Grant Document 

Distribution Date 

RUS intends to make grant, loan, and 

loan/grant combination documents 

available to successful applicants within 

30 days of the award announcement. 

RUS expects compliance with all 

documentation requirements from 

successful applicants, and intends to 

schedule the closings within 60 days of 

award announcement. 

C. BTOP Grants 

NTIA intends to make award 

documents available to successful 

applicants within 30 days of the award 

announcement. NTIA expects 

compliance with all documentation 

requirements from successful applicants 

within 60 days of award announcement. 

IX. Award Administration Information 

A. Award Notices 

1. BIP 

Successful applicants will receive 

award documents from RUS following 

award notification. Applicants may 

view sample documents on BIP at 

http://www.broadbandusa.gov. 

2. BTOP 

Applicants will be notified in writing 

by the DOC’s Grants Officer if their 

applications are selected for an award. 

If the application is selected for funding, 

the DOC’s Grants Officer will issue the 

grant award (Form CD–450), which is 

the authorizing financial assistance 

award document. By signing the Form 

CD–450, the awardee agrees to comply 

with all award provisions. NTIA will 

provide the Form CD–450 by mail or 

overnight delivery to the appropriate 

business office of the recipient’s 

organization. The awardee must sign 

and return the Form CD–450 without 

modification within 30 days of receipt. 

If an applicant is awarded funding, 

neither the DOC nor NTIA is under any 

obligation to provide any additional 

future funding in connection with that 

award or to make any future award(s). 

Amendment or renewal of an award to 

increase funding or to extend the period 

of performance is at the discretion of the 

DOC and of NTIA. 

B. Administrative Requirements 

1. BIP 

a. Pre-award Conditions. No funds 

will be disbursed under this program 

until all other sources of funding have 

been obtained and any other pre-award 

conditions have been met. Failure to 

obtain one or more sources of funding 

committed to in the application or to 

fulfill any other pre-award condition 

within 30 days of award announcement 

will result in withdrawal of the award. 

b. Failure To Comply With Award 

Requirements. If an awardee fails to 

comply with the terms of the award as 

specified in the award documents, RUS 

may exercise rights and remedies. 

c. Advance Procedures. RUS loan and 

grant advances are made at the request 

of the awardee according to the 

procedures stipulated in the award 

documents. Loan/grant combination 

funds are advanced in proportion to the 

amount of the award made in the form 

of loans and grants. Remote areas 

project grant funds are advanced 

independent of the loan/grant 

combination funds. 

d. Contracting. Contracting is to be 

done at the awardee’s discretion, using 

private contracts or RUS’s form 

contracts, however equal employment 

opportunity, civil rights, etc. 

requirements must still be met. 

e. Accounting, Monitoring, and 

Reporting Requirements. Awardees 

must follow RUS’s accounting, 

monitoring, and reporting requirements. 

These requirements, which are specified 

in the award documents, include, but 

are not limited to, the following: 

i. Awardees must adopt a GAAP 

system of accounts acceptable to RUS; 

ii. Awardees must submit annual 

audited financial statements along with 

a report on compliance and on internal 

control over financial reporting, and a 

management letter in accordance with 

the requirements of 7 CFR 1773. The 

CPA conducting the annual audit is 

selected by the awardee and must be 

approved by RUS as set forth in 7 CFR 

§ 1773.4; 

iii. Awardees must submit to RUS the 

information as specified in section 

IX.D.2; 

iv. Awardees must comply with all 

reasonable RUS requests to support 

ongoing monitoring efforts. The awardee 

shall afford RUS, through its 

representatives and representatives of 

the USDA Office of Inspector General 

reasonable opportunity, at all times 

during business hours and upon prior 

notice, to have access to and the right 

to inspect the broadband system, and 

any other property encumbered by the 

mortgage or security agreement, and any 

or all books, records, accounts, invoices, 

contracts, leases, payrolls, timesheets, 

cancelled checks, statements, and other 

documents, electronic or paper of every 

kind belonging to or in the possession 

of the awardee or in any way pertaining 

to its property or business, including its 

subsidiaries, if any, and to make copies 

or extracts therefrom. 

f. Assistance Instruments. 

i. Terms and conditions of loan/grant 

combinations are set forth in the nonnegotiable standard loan/grant contract, 

note, and/or mortgage found at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

ii. Terms and conditions of loans are 

set forth in the non-negotiable standard 

loan contract, note, and/or mortgage 

found at http://www.broadbandusa.gov. 

iii. Terms of the remote area end-user 

grant are set forth in a nonnegotiable 


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41Note that section 1515 of the Recovery Act also 

authorizes the Inspector General to examine records 

and interview officers and employees of the grantee 

and other entities regarding the award of funds. See 

Recovery Act § 1515, 123 Stat. at 289. 

grant agreement found at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

iv. Loan and grant documents 

appropriate to the project must be 

executed prior to any advance of funds. 

v. Sample loan documents and grant 

agreements can be found at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov. 

g. Loan Terms and Conditions. For 

loan/grant combinations, applicants 

must indicate the amount of the award 

to be requested in the form of a loan, 

and the amount to be requested in the 

form of a grant. The grant component 

must not exceed the loan component. 

The scoring criteria reward those 

applicants that reduce the percentage of 

the funds requested in the form of a 

grant. Applicants may request a 100 

percent loan. The following terms shall 

apply to the loans, as well as other 

terms that are specified in the loan 

documents: 

i. Interest rate. Loans shall bear 

interest at a rate equal to the cost of 

borrowing to the Department of 

Treasury for obligations of comparable 

maturity. The applicable interest rate 

will be set at the time of each advance. 

ii. Repayment period. Unless the 

applicant requests a shorter repayment 

period, broadband loans must be repaid 

with interest within a period that, 

rounded to the nearest whole year, is 

equal to the expected Composite 

Economic Life of the assets to be 

financed, as determined by RUS based 

upon acceptable depreciation rates. 

iii. Amortization period. Interest 

begins accruing on the date of each loan 

advance and interest payments are due 

monthly. Upon completion of the buildout, or a date certain that is determined 

at closing, whichever occurs first, 

monthly principal payments will be 

established in an amount that amortizes 

the outstanding balance over the 

remaining term of the loan. 

iv. Fidelity bonding. Applicants must 

agree to obtain a fidelity bond for 15 

percent of the loan amount. The fidelity 

bond must be obtained as a condition of 

loan closing. RUS may reduce the 

percentage required if it determines that 

15 percent is not commensurate with 

the risk involved. 

v. Security. The loan portion of the 

award must be adequately secured, as 

determined by RUS. 

(1) The loan and loan/grant 

combination must be secured by the 

assets purchased with the loan or loan/ 

grant funds, as well as all other assets 

of the applicant and any other signer of 

the loan documents that are available to 

be pledged to RUS. 

(2) RUS must be given an exclusive 

first lien, in form and substance 

satisfactory to RUS, on all of the assets 

purchased with the loan or loan/grant 

funds. RUS may share its first lien 

position with one or more lenders on a 

pari passu basis if security 

arrangements are acceptable to RUS. 

(3) Unless otherwise approved by the 

RUS, all property purchased with award 

funds must be owned by the awardee. 

(4) In the case of awards that include 

financing of facilities that do not 

constitute self-contained operating 

systems, the applicant shall furnish 

assurance, satisfactory to RUS, that 

continuous and efficient service at the 

broadband funding speed will be 

rendered. 

2. BTOP 

Administrative and national policy 

requirements for BTOP grant funding, 

inter alia, are contained in the PreAward Notification Requirements for 

Grants and Cooperative Agreements 

(DOC Pre-Award Notification), 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 11, 2008 (73 FR 7696), as 

amended. All BTOP applicants are 

required to comply with all applicable 

provisions set forth in the DOC PreAward Notification. 

C. Award Terms and Conditions 

1. Scope 

Awardees, including all contractors 

and subcontractors, are required to 

comply with the obligations set forth in 

the Recovery Act and the requirements 

established herein. Any obligation that 

applies to the awardee shall extend for 

the life of the award-funded facilities. 

2. Sale or Lease of Project Assets 

The sale or lease of any portion of the 

award-funded broadband facilities 

during their life is prohibited, except as 

provided herein. The agencies may 

approve a sale or lease if it is: a. For 

adequate consideration; b. the purchaser 

or lessee agrees to fulfill the terms and 

conditions relating to the project after 

such sale or lease; and c. either: i. the 

sale or lease is set forth in the original 

application and is part of the applicant’s 

proposal for funds; or ii. the agencies 

waive this provision for any sale or 

lease occurring after the tenth year from 

the date of issuance of the grant, loan or 

loan/grant award. Awardees are 

required to notify the agencies in the 

event of a proposed transfer of awardfunded facilities. Nothing in this section 

is meant to limit Broadband 

Infrastructure awardees from leasing 

facilities to another service provider for 

the provision of broadband services. 

3. For BTOP Only, Access to Records for 

Audits, Site Visits, Monitoring and Law 

Enforcement Purposes 

The Inspector General of the DOC, or 

any of his or her duly authorized 

representatives, and NTIA 

representatives, or any of their duly 

authorized representatives, shall have 

access to and the right to inspect the 

broadband system and any other 

property funded by the grant, any and 

all books, records, accounts, invoices, 

contracts, leases, payrolls, time sheets, 

canceled checks, statements, and other 

documents, papers and records of the 

parties to a grant, including their 

subsidiaries, if any, whether written, 

printed, recorded, produced, or 

reproduced by any electronic, 

mechanical, magnetic or other process 

or medium, in order to make audits, 

inspections, site visits, excerpts, 

transcripts, copies, or other 

examinations as authorized by law. An 

audit of an award may be conducted at 

any time.41

4. Broadband Data Collection 

All BTOP Broadband Infrastructure 

awardees that offer Internet access 

service to the public for a fee must agree 

to participate in the State Broadband 

Data and Development Grant Program 

pursuant to the BDIA and section 

6001(l) of the Recovery Act. With 

respect to BIP awardees, RUS will 

provide to NTIA data supplied by 

awardees to support the development of 

the broadband mapping project 

conducted pursuant to section 6001(l) of 

the Recovery Act. This data would 

include: 

a. The availability of broadband 

service within service area. For 

wireline-based systems, the form of the 

broadband (e.g., DSL) and the advertised 

speeds up and down available within 

the service area and the number of 

residents, small businesses, large 

businesses, and public facilities. For 

wireless-based systems, the advertised 

and typical speeds up and down within 

the wireless’ carriers license area, and 

the spectrum on which it’s provided. 

b. The residential average revenue per 

user. 

c. The first point of aggregation for 

last mile connection points (e.g., remote 

terminals or cable headends). 

d. Middle mile interconnection 

points. 

e. A list of community anchor 

institutions to which service is 

provided. 


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42 See Recovery Act § 6001(e)(4), 123 Stat. at 514. 

43See, e.g., 2 CFR pt. 176; OMB, Interim Final 

Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, 74 FR 

18449 (Apr. 23, 2009); Implementing Guidance for 

Reports on Use of Funds Pursuant to the American 

Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (OMB M– 

09–21 June 22, 2009). 

44Recovery Act § 1512(c), 123 Stat. at 287. 45See id. § 6001(i)(2), 123 Stat. at 515. 

5. Certifications 

a. The applicant must certify that he 

or she is authorized to submit the 

application on behalf of the eligible 

entity(ies) listed on the application, that 

the applicant has examined the 

application, that all of the information 

in the application, including 

certifications and forms submitted, all of 

which are part of the application, are 

material representations of fact and true 

and correct to the best of his or her 

knowledge, that the entity(ies) that is 

requesting funding pursuant to the 

application and any subawardees will 

comply with the terms, conditions, 

purposes, and federal requirements of 

the program; that no kickbacks were 

paid to anyone; and that a false, 

fictitious, or fradulent statements or 

claims on this application is grounds for 

denial or termination of an award, and/ 

or possible punishment by a fine or 

imprisonment as provided in 18 U.S.C. 

1001 and civil violations of the False 

Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729 et seq.); 

b. The applicant certifies that the 

entity(ies) he or she represents have and 

will comply with all applicable Federal, 

state, and local laws, rules, regulations, 

ordinances, codes, orders, and 

programmatic rules and requirements 

relating to the project.42 The applicant 

acknowledges that failure to do so may 

result in rejection or deobligation of the 

award. The applicant acknowledges that 

failure to comply with all federal and 

program rules could result in civil or 

criminal prosecution by the appropriate 

law enforcement authorities; 

c. If requesting BTOP funding, the 

applicant certifies that the entity(ies) he 

or she represents has and will comply 

with all applicable administrative and 

federal statutory, regulatory, and policy 

requirements set forth in the DOC PreAward Notification; DOC Financial 

Assistance Standard Terms and 

Conditions (Mar. 8, 2009); DOC 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act Award Terms (Apr. 9, 2009); and 

any Special Award Terms and 

Conditions that are included by the 

Grants Officer in the award. 

D. Reporting Requirements 

1. General Recovery Act Requirements 

a. OMB Reporting Requirements 

Implementing the Recovery Act 

Any grant, loan, or loan/grant 

combination awarded under this NOFA 

shall be subject to the applicable 

statutes and regulations regarding 

reporting on Recovery Act funds.43 If 

Recovery Act funds are combined with 

other funds to fund or complete projects 

and activities, Recovery Act funds must 

be accounted for separately from other 

funds and reported to RUS or NTIA or 

any federal Web site established for 

Recovery Act reporting purposes. 

Moreover, recipients of funds under this 

NOFA must also comply with the 

accounting requirements as established 

or referred to in this NOFA. 

b. Required Data Elements 

The awardee and each contractor 

engaged by the awardee must submit the 

following information to the relevant 

agency: 

i. The total amount of Recovery Act 

funds received; 

ii. The amount of Recovery Act funds 

received that were expended or 

obligated to projects or activities; 

iii. A detailed list of all projects or 

activities for which Recovery Act funds 

were expended or obligated, including: 

(1) The name of the project or activity; 

(2) a description of the project or 

activity; (3) an evaluation of the 

completion status of the project or 

activity; (4) an estimate of the number 

of jobs created and the number of jobs 

retained by the project or activity; and 

(5) for infrastructure investments made 

by state and local governments, the 

purpose, total cost, and rationale of the 

agency for funding the infrastructure 

investment with Recovery Act funds, 

and name of the person to contact at the 

agency if there are concerns with the 

infrastructure investment; and 

iv. Detailed information on any 

subcontracts or subgrants awarded by 

the awardee to include the data 

elements required to comply with the 

Federal Funding Accountability and 

Transparency Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109– 

282, 120 Stat. 1186 (to be codified at 31 

U.S.C. § 6101 note)), allowing aggregate 

reporting on awards below $25,000 or to 

individuals.44

Awardees that must report 

information according to paragraph (iv) 

above (re: subcontracts or subgrants) 

must register with the CCR database 

(http://www.ccr.gov/) or complete other 

registration requirements as determined 

by the Director of OMB. 

c. Reporting Deadlines 

Recovery Act reports are due to the 

agencies ten days after the quarter in 

which the award was issued ends and, 

unless otherwise noted, each quarter 

thereafter until a final report is made at 

the end of three years. The final report 

should summarize the awardee’s 

quarterly filings and state whether the 

project’s goals have been satisfied. 

Pursuant to OMB Guidelines, reports 

should be submitted electronically to 

http://www.federalreporting.gov. If the 

awardee fails to submit an acceptable 

quarterly report or audited financial 

statement within the timeframe 

designated in the grant or loan award, 

the agencies may suspend further 

payments until the awardee complies 

with the reporting requirements. 

Additional information regarding 

reporting requirements will be specified 

at the time the award is issued. 

2. BIP-Specific Reporting Requirements 

In addition to the general Recovery 

Act reporting requirements, BIP 

awardees shall also report on the 

information requested below. 

a. Awardees must submit to RUS 30 

calendar days after the end of each 

calendar year quarter, balance sheets, 

income statements, statements of cash 

flow, rate package summaries, and the 

number of customers taking broadband 

service on a per community basis 

utilizing RUS’s Broadband Collection 

and Analysis System (BCAS). BCAS is 

an electronic reporting system that is 

accessed through the Internet. 

b. Annually on January 31, starting 

the first January 31 after completion of 

the project, awardees must submit to 

RUS, using the electronic reporting 

system provided by RUS: 

i. Number of households and 

businesses subscribing to broadband 

service; 

ii. Number of households and 

businesses subscribing to broadband 

service that receive improved access; 

and 

iii. Number of educational, library, 

health care, and public safety providers 

receiving either new or improved access 

to broadband service. 

c. Awardee shall specifically state in 

the applicable quarter when they have 

received 67 percent of the award funds. 

Reaching this threshold will indicate 

that the awardee has substantially 

completed its project. 

3. BTOP-Specific Reporting 

Requirements 

In addition to the general Recovery 

Act reporting requirements, BTOP 

awardees must also report quarterly on 

the information requested below.45 The 

information requested will vary 

depending on the type of project being 

funded. 


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46 Id. § 6001(d)(3), 123 Stat. at 513. 47 Id. § 1604, 123 Stat. at 303. 

a. All BTOP Awardees 

All BTOP awardees must report on: 

i. Their progress in achieving the 

project goals, objectives, and milestones 

as set forth in its application; 

ii. Expenditure of grant funds and 

how much of the award remains; 

iii. How much non-federal investment 

is being added to complete the project; 

iv. Whether the awardee is on 

schedule to substantially complete its 

projects within two years of the award 

and complete its project within three 

years of the award; 

v. The number and type of entities (as 

set forth in section 6001(b)(3) and (4) of 

the Recovery Act) receiving new access 

to broadband services; and 

vi. The number and type of entities 

(as set forth in section 6001(b)(3) and (4) 

of the Recovery Act) receiving improved 

access to broadband services. 

Awardees shall specifically state in 

the applicable quarter when they have 

met 67 percent of their milestones and 

received 67 percent of their award 

funds. Reaching these thresholds will 

indicate that the awardees have 

‘‘substantially completed’’ their projects 

consistent with the Recovery Act.46

b. BTOP Broadband Infrastructure 

Awardees 

Awardees receiving Last Mile or 

Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure 

grants must report, for each specific 

BTOP project, on the following: 

i. The terms of any interconnection 

agreements entered into during the 

reporting period; 

ii. Traffic exchange relationships (e.g., 

peering) and terms; 

iii. Broadband equipment purchases; 

iv. Total and peak utilization of access 

links; 

v. Total and peak utilization on 

interconnection links to other networks; 

vi. Internet protocol address 

utilization and IPv6 implementation; 

vii. Any changes or updates to their 

network management practices; 

viii. Average end-user and middle 

mile megabit per second increase; 

ix. Availability of their broadband 

offering (including the technology used, 

location of infrastructure, area served, 

and the number of households passed); 

x. The total number of households 

and businesses subscribing to 

broadband service; 

xi. The number of households and 

businesses subscribing to new 

broadband service; 

xii. The number of households and 

businesses subscribing to broadband 

service that receive improved access; 

xiii. Advertised and averaged 

broadband speeds; and 

xiv. The price of the broadband 

services. 

c. Public Computer Center Awardees 

Awardees receiving Public Computer 

Center grants must report on: 

i. The number of work stations 

available to the public; 

ii. The total hours of operation per 

week that the public computer center is 

open; 

iii. The speed of broadband to the 

public computer center; 

iv. The primary uses of the public 

computer center; 

v. The average number of users per 

day in the public computer center; 

vi. The total hours per week of 

training provided at the public 

computer center; and 

vii. the number and cost of any 

broadband equipment deployed. 

d. Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

Awardees 

Awardees receiving Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption grants must report 

on: 

i. The technology being fostered; 

ii. Efforts to aggregate demand for 

each location, including the role of the 

local community; 

iii. The increase in the number of 

households, businesses, and community 

anchor institutions subscribing to 

broadband service; 

iv. The number and type of awareness 

campaigns provided, including the total 

number individuals reached; and 

v. The number and cost of any 

broadband customer premises 

equipment or end-user devices 

deployed. 

X. Other Information 

A. Funding Rounds 

Both agencies envision this as the first 

of three funding rounds. Subsequent 

rounds will be developed in part based 

on each agency’s experience with this 

NOFA. While the fundamental nature of 

subsequent NOFAs is expected to 

remain similar, some additional 

targeting is anticipated. Potential 

applicants are urged to begin planning 

now in anticipation of future funding 

availability. 

B. Discretionary Awards 

The government is not obligated to 

make any award as a result of this 

announcement, and will fund only 

projects that are deemed likely to 

achieve the program’s goals and for 

which funds are available. 

C. Third Party Beneficiaries 

The BTOP is a discretionary grant 

program that is not intended to and does 

not create any rights enforceable by 

third party beneficiaries. 

D. Limitation on Expenditures 

The Recovery Act imposes an 

additional limitation on the use of funds 

expended or obligated from 

appropriations made pursuant to its 

provisions. Specifically, for purposes of 

this NOFA, none of the funds 

appropriated or otherwise made 

available under the Recovery Act may 

be used by any state or local 

government, or any private entity, for 

any casino or other gambling 

establishment, aquarium, zoo, golf 

course, or swimming pool.47

E. Recovery Act Logo 

All projects that are funded by the 

Recovery Act shall display signage that 

features the Primary Emblem 

throughout the construction phase. The 

signage should be displayed in a 

prominent location on site. Some 

exclusions may apply. The Primary 

Emblem should not be displayed at a 

size less than six inches in diameter. 

F. Environmental and National Historic 

Preservation Requirements 

Awarding agencies are required to 

analyze the potential environmental 

impacts, as required by the NEPA and 

the NHPA for applicant projects or 

proposals seeking Recovery Act 

funding. All applicants are required to 

complete the Environmental 

Questionnaire under the description of 

program activities and to submit all 

other required environmental 

documentation during step two of the 

application process. 

It is the applicant’s responsibility to 

obtain all necessary federal, state, and 

local governmental permits and 

approvals necessary for the proposed 

work to be conducted. Applicants are 

expected to design their projects so that 

they minimize the potential for adverse 

impacts to the environment. Applicants 

also will be required to cooperate with 

the granting agencies in identifying 

feasible measures to reduce or avoid any 

identified adverse environmental 

impacts of their proposed projects. The 

failure to do so may be grounds for not 

making an award. 

Applications will be reviewed to 

ensure that they contain sufficient 

information to allow agency staff to 

conduct a NEPA analysis so that 

appropriate NEPA documentation can 

be submitted to the agencies, along with 


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48 Id. § 1606, 123 Stat. at 303. 

49See OMB, Interim Final Guidance for Federal 

Financial Assistance, 74 FR 18449 (Apr. 23, 2009). 50See Recovery Act § 6001(i)(5), 123 Stat. at 515. 51See id. §§ 1511, 1526, 123 Stat. at 287, 293. 

the recommendation for funding of the 

selected applications. Applicants 

proposing activities that cannot be 

covered by existing environmental 

compliance procedures will be informed 

after the technical review stage whether 

NEPA compliance and other 

environmental requirements can 

otherwise be expeditiously met so that 

a project can proceed within the 

timeframes anticipated under the 

Recovery Act. 

If additional information is required 

after an application is accepted for 

funding, funds can be withheld by the 

agencies under a special award 

condition requiring the awardee to 

submit additional environmental 

compliance information sufficient for 

the agency to make an assessment of any 

impacts that a project may have on the 

environment. 

G. Davis-Bacon Wage Requirements 

Pursuant to section 1606 of the 

Recovery Act, any project using 

Recovery Act funds requires the 

payment of not less than the prevailing 

wages for ‘‘all laborers and mechanics 

employed by contractors and 

subcontractors on projects funded 

directly by or assisted in whole or in 

part by and through the Federal 

Government.’’ 48

H. Financial and Audit Requirements 

To maximize the transparency and 

accountability of funds authorized 

under the Recovery Act, all applicants 

are required to comply with the 

applicable regulations set forth in 

OMB’s Interim Final Guidance for 

Federal Financial Assistance.49

Recipients that expend $500,000 or 

more of federal funds during their fiscal 

year are required to submit an 

organization-wide financial and 

compliance audit report. The audit must 

be performed in accordance with the 

U.S. General Accountability Office, 

Government Auditing Standards, 

located at http://www.gao.gov/govaud/ 

ybk01.htm, and OMB Circular A–133, 

Audits of States, Local Governments, 

and Non-Profit Organizations, located at 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/ 

circulars/a133/a133.html. Awardees are 

responsible for ensuring that subrecipient audit reports are received and 

for resolving any audit findings. 

I. Deobligation 

The RUS and NTIA reserve the right 

to deobligate awards to recipients under 

this NOFA that demonstrate an 

insufficient level of performance, or 

wasteful or fraudulent spending, and 

award these funds competitively to new 

or existing applicants. 

J. Confidentiality of Applicant 

Information 

Applicants are encouraged to identify 

and label any confidential and 

proprietary information contained in 

their applications. The agencies will 

protect confidential and proprietary 

information from public disclosure to 

the fullest extent authorized by 

applicable law, including the Freedom 

of Information Act, as amended (5 

U.S.C. 552), the Trade Secrets Act, as 

amended (18 U.S.C. 1905), and the 

Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (18 

U.S.C. 1831 et seq.). Applicants should 

be aware, however, that the Recovery 

Act requires substantial transparency. 

For example, RUS and NTIA are 

required to make publicly available on 

the Internet a list of each entity that has 

applied for a grant, a description of each 

application, the status of each 

application, the name of each entity 

receiving funds, the purpose for which 

the entity is receiving the funds, each 

quarterly report, and other 

information.50

K. Policy on Sectarian Activities 

NTIA encourages applications from 

faith-based organizations. On December 

22, 1995, NTIA issued a Notice in the 

Federal Register on its policy with 

regard to sectarian activities. Under 

NTIA’s policy, while religious activities 

cannot be the essential thrust of a grant, 

an application will be eligible for a grant 

under this program where sectarian 

activities are only incidental or 

attenuated to the overall project purpose 

for which funding is requested. 

Applicants for whom this policy may be 

relevant can access it through the 

Federal Register at 60 FR 66491 (Dec. 

22, 1995). 

L. Disposition of Unsuccessful 

Applications 

Applications accepted for review for 

the Fiscal Year 2009 BIP and BTOP 

programs will be retained for two years, 

after which they will be destroyed. 

M. State Certifications 

With respect to funds made available 

under the Recovery Act to state or local 

governments for infrastructure 

investments, the governor, mayor, or 

other chief executive, as appropriate, 

must certify that the infrastructure 

investment has received the full review 

and vetting required by law and that the 

chief executive accepts responsibility 

that the infrastructure investment is an 

appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. This 

certification must include a description 

of the investment, the estimated total 

cost, and the amount of funds to be 

used, and must be posted on the 

recipient’s Web site and linked to 

http://www.recovery.gov. A state or local 

agency may not receive infrastructure 

investment funding from funds made 

available under the Recovery Act unless 

this certification is made and posted.51

N. Waiver Authority 

It is the general intent of NTIA not to 

waive any of the provisions set forth in 

this NOFA. However, under 

extraordinary circumstances and when 

it is in the best interest of the federal 

government, NTIA, upon its own 

initiative or when requested, may waive 

the provisions in this NOFA. Waivers 

may only be granted for requirements 

that are discretionary and not mandated 

by statute or other applicable law. Any 

request for a waiver must set forth the 

extraordinary circumstances for the 

request and be included in the 

application or sent to the address 

provided in section VI.E. 

O. Compliance With Applicable Laws 

Any recipient of funds under this 

NOFA shall be required to comply with 

all applicable federal and state laws, 

including but not limited to: i. The 

nondiscrimination and equal 

employment opportunity requirements 

of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 

1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2000e et 

seq., 7 CFR pt. 15); ii. section 504 of the 

Rehabilitation Act (29 U.S.C. 794 et seq.; 

7 CFR pt. 15b); iii. The Age 

Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended 

(42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.; 45 CFR pt. 90); 

iv. Executive Order 11375, amending 

Executive Order 11246, Relating to 

Equal Employment Opportunity (3 CFR 

pt. 102). See 7 CFR pts. 15 and 15b and 

45 CFR pt. 90, RUS Bulletin 1790–1 

(‘‘Nondiscrimination among 

Beneficiaries of RUS Programs’’), and 

RUS Bulletin 20–15:320–15 (‘‘Equal 

Employment Opportunity in 

Construction Financed with RUS 

Loans’’). The RUS Bulletins are 

available at http:// 

www.broadbandusa.gov.; v. The 

Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 4151 et seq.); vi. 

The Uniform Federal Accessibility 

Standards (UFAS) (Appendix A to 41 

CFR subpart 101–19.6); and vii. The 

Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations for Implementing the 

Procedural Provisions of NEPA and 


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52 Id. § 1605, 123 Stat. at 303. 

53See 2 CFR pt. 176. 

certain related federal environmental 

laws, statutes, regulations, and 

Executive Orders found in 7 CFR 1794. 

A more complete list of such 

requirements can be found in the 

applicable grant agreement or loan 

contract. 

P. Communications Laws 

Awardees, and in particular, 

Broadband Infrastructure awardees, will 

be required to comply with all 

applicable federal and state 

communications laws and regulation as 

applicable, including, for example, the 

Communications Act of 1934, as 

amended (47 U.S.C. 151 et seq.), the 

Telecommunications Act of 1996, as 

amended (Pub. L. 104–104, 110 Stat. 56 

(1996), and the Communications 

Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (47 

U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) (CALEA). For 

further information, see http:// 

www.fcc.gov. 

Q. Buy American Notice 

1. General Prohibition and Waiver 

None of the funds appropriated or 

otherwise made available by the 

Recovery Act may be used for the 

construction, alteration, maintenance, or 

repair of a public building or public 

work (as such terms are defined in 2 

CFR 176.140) unless all of the iron, 

steel, and manufacturing goods used in 

the project are produced in the United 

States.52 On July 1, 2009, the 

Department of Agriculture and the 

Department of Commerce published 

notices in the Federal Register stating 

that the Secretary of Agriculture and 

Secretary of Commerce have separately 

reached conclusions that applying the 

Buy American provision for the use of 

certain broadband equipment in public 

BIP and BTOP projects would be 

inconsistent with the public interest. 

As explained below, to the extent that 

an applicant wishes to use broadband 

equipment or goods that are not covered 

by the Secretaries’ waivers, it may seek 

an additional waiver on a case-by-case 

basis as part of its application for 

Recovery Act funds. 

2. OMB Buy American Notice 

Requirement 

Pursuant to OMB guidance on the 

Recovery Act,53 RUS and NTIA are 

required to provide the following notice: 

Section 176.170 Notice of Required 

Use of American Iron, Steel, and 

Manufactured Goods (Covered Under 

International Agreements)—Section 

1605 of the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act of 2009 

When requesting applications or 

proposals for Recovery Act programs or 

activities that may involve construction, 

alteration, maintenance, or repair of a 

public building or public work, and 

involve iron, steel, and/or manufactured 

goods covered under international 

agreements, the agency shall use the 

notice described in the following 

paragraphs in the solicitation: 

(a) Definitions. Designated country 

iron, steel, and/or manufactured goods, 

foreign iron, steel, and/or manufactured 

good, manufactured good, public 

building and public work, and steel, as 

used in this provision, are defined in 2 

CFR 176.160(a). 

(b) Requests for determinations of 

inapplicability. A prospective applicant 

requesting a determination regarding the 

inapplicability of section 1605 of the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act of 2009 (Pub. L. 111–5) (Recovery 

Act) should submit the request to the 

award official in time to allow a 

determination before submission of 

applications or proposals. The 

prospective applicant shall include the 

information and applicable supporting 

data required by 2 CFR 176.160(c) and 

(d) in the request. If an applicant has not 

requested a determination regarding the 

inapplicability of section 1605 of the 

Recovery Act before submitting its 

application or proposal, or has not 

received a response to a previous 

request, the applicant shall include the 

information and supporting data in the 

application or proposal. 

(c) Evaluation of project proposals. If 

the Federal Government determines that 

an exception based on unreasonable 

cost of domestic iron, steel, and/or 

manufactured goods applies, the Federal 

Government will evaluate a project 

requesting exception to the 

requirements of section 1605 of the 

Recovery Act by adding to the estimated 

total cost of the project 25 percent of the 

project cost if foreign iron, steel, or 

manufactured goods are used based on 

unreasonable cost of comparable 

domestic iron, steel, or manufactured 

goods. 

(d) Alternate project proposals. 

(1) When a project proposal includes 

foreign iron, steel, and/or manufactured 

goods, other than designated country 

iron, steel, and/or manufactured goods, 

that are not listed by the Federal 

Government in this Buy American 

notice in the request for applications or 

proposals, the applicant may submit an 

alternate proposal based on use of 

equivalent domestic or designated 

country iron, steel, and/or manufactured 

goods. 

(2) If an alternate proposal is 

submitted, the applicant shall submit a 

separate cost comparison table prepared 

in accordance with paragraphs 2 CFR 

176.160(c) and (d) for the proposal that 

is based on the use of any foreign iron, 

steel, and/or manufactured goods for 

which the Federal Government has not 

yet determined an exception applies. 

(3) If the Federal Government 

determines that a particular exception 

requested in accordance with 2 CFR 

176.160(b) does not apply, the Federal 

Government will evaluate only those 

proposals based on use of the equivalent 

domestic or designated country iron, 

steel, and/or manufactured goods, and 

the applicant shall be required to 

furnish such domestic or designated 

country items. 

R. Executive Order 12866 

This notice has been determined to be 

‘‘economically significant’’ under 

Executive Order 12866. The Recovery 

Act appropriates $4.7 billion to NTIA 

for broadband grants and other 

purposes. The Recovery Act also 

appropriates $2.5 billion to RUS for 

broadband grants and loans. Awards 

must be made no later than September 

30, 2010. In accordance with Executive 

Order 12866, an economic analysis was 

completed outlining the costs and 

benefits of implementing each of these 

programs. The complete analyses are 

available from RUS and NTIA, 

respectively, upon request. 

S. Executive Order 13132 

It has been determined that this notice 

does not contain policies with 

federalism implications as that term is 

defined in Executive Order 13132. 

T. Administrative Procedure Act 

Statement 

This NOFA is being issued without 

advance rulemaking or public comment. 

The Administrative Procedure Act of 

1946, as amended (5 U.S.C. 553) (APA), 

has several exemptions to rulemaking 

requirements. Among them is an 

exemption for ‘‘good cause’’ found at 5 

U.S.C. 553(b)(B), which allows effective 

government action without rulemaking 

procedures where withholding the 

action would be ‘‘impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest.’’ 

USDA and the DOC have determined, 

consistent with the APA that making 

these funds available under this NOFA 

for broadband development, as 


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mandated by the Recovery Act, is in the 

public interest. Given the emergency 

nature of the Recovery Act and the 

extremely short time period within 

which all funds must be obligated, 

withholding this NOFA to provide for 

public notice and comment would 

unduly delay the provision of benefits 

associated with these broadband 

initiatives and be contrary to the public 

interest. 

For the same reasons, the agencies 

find good cause under 5 U.S.C. 553(d)(3) 

to waive the 30-day delay in 

effectiveness for this action. Because 

notice and opportunity for comment are 

not required pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3) or any other law, the 

analytical requirements of the 

Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) are 

inapplicable. Therefore, a regulatory 

flexibility analysis is not required and 

has not been prepared. 

U. Congressional Review Act 

NTIA has submitted this NOFA to the 

Congress and the Government 

Accountability Office under the 

Congressional Review of Agency 

Rulemaking Act, 5 U.S.C. 801 et seq. It 

has been determined that this NOFA is 

a ‘‘major action’’ within the meaning of 

the Act because it will result in an 

annual effect on the economy of 

$100,000,000 or more. This NOFA sets 

out the administrative procedures for 

making grants, loans, and loan/grant 

combinations totaling $3 billion to 

implement a nationwide broadband 

initiative to expand the reach and 

quality of broadband services in the 

United States. 

With funds made available through 

the Recovery Act, BIP will provide $2.5 

billion of budget authority for RUS to 

extend grants, loans, and loan/grant 

combinations to facilitate broadband 

deployment in rural areas. At the same 

time, BTOP will provide $4.7 billion 

through NTIA to provide broadband 

grants throughout the United States for 

unserved and underserved 

communities, to increase public 

computer center capacity, and to 

encourage sustainable adoption of 

broadband services. The Recovery Act 

provides that BTOP awards must be 

made no later than September 30, 2010. 

Moreover, projects funded under these 

programs must be substantially 

completed no later than two years 

following the date of issuance of the 

award. A 60-day delay in implementing 

this NOFA would hamper RUS and 

NTIA’s missions to expeditiously 

provide assistance to eligible entities to 

begin and complete projects within the 

statutory requirements of the Recovery 

Act. 

Thus, RUS and NTIA find good cause 

under 5 U.S.C. 808(2) that prior notice 

and public procedure are impracticable, 

unnecessary, and contrary to the public 

interest. To the extent that RUS and 

NTIA provided a 60-day delay in 

effectiveness pursuant to the 

Congressional Review Act, the agencies 

would not be able to execute the 

statutory duties required by the 

Recovery Act in a timely manner. This 

finding is consistent with the objectives 

of the Recovery Act, which specifically 

provides clear preferences for rapid 

agency action and quick-start activities 

designed to spur job creation and 

economic benefit. Accordingly, this 

NOFA shall take effect upon publication 

in the Federal Register. 

V. Paperwork Reduction Act 

1. Reporting and Registration 

Requirement Under Section 1512 of the 

Recovery Act 

a. This award requires the recipient to 

complete projects or activities which are 

funded under the Recovery Act and to 

report on use of Recovery Act funds 

provided through this award. 

Information from these reports will be 

made available to the public. 

b. The first report is due no later than 

ten calendar days after the initial 

calendar quarter in which the recipient 

receives the assistance award funded in 

whole or in part by the Recovery Act, 

or by October 10, 2009. Thereafter, 

reports shall be submitted no later than 

the tenth day after the end of each 

calendar quarter. 

c. Recipients and their first-tier 

recipients must maintain current 

registrations in the CCR (http:// 

www.ccr.gov) at all times during which 

they have active federal awards funded 

with Recovery Act funds. A DUNS 

number is one of the requirements for 

registration in the CCR. 

d. The recipient shall report the 

information described in section 1512(c) 

using the reporting instructions and 

data elements that will be provided 

online at http:// 

www.FederalReporting.gov, unless the 

information is pre-populated. 

2. Agencies’ Additional Paperwork 

Reduction Act Analysis 

Copies of all forms, regulations, and 

instructions referenced in this NOFA 

may be obtained from RUS or NTIA. 

Data furnished by the applicants will be 

used to determine eligibility for program 

benefits. Furnishing the data is 

voluntary; however, the failure to 

provide data could result in program 

benefits being withheld or denied. 

The collection of information is vital 

to RUS and NTIA to ensure compliance 

with the provisions of this Notice and 

to fulfill the requirements of the 

Recovery Act. In summary, the 

collection of information is necessary in 

order to implement this program. 

The following estimates are based on 

the average over the first three years the 

program is in place. 

BIP Infrastructure: 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 116 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Business or other for 

profits; Not-for-profit institutions; and 

State, local, and Tribal. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

500. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 3.28. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 

1,639. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

(hours) on Respondents: 189,837. 

BTOP Infrastructure: 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 117 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: 1,500. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

1,500. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 2.11. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 

3,164. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

(hours) on Respondents: 371,187. 

Public Computer Center: 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 47.6 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: 2,500. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

2,500. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1.1. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 

2,750. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

(hours) on Respondents: 130,750. 

Sustainable Adoption: 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average 23.9 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: 2,500. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

2,500. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1.1. 

Estimated Number of Responses: 

2,750. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden 

(hours) on Respondents: 65,750. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from Michele Brooks, 


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1See Recovery Act § 6001(b), 123 Stat. at 512. 

2See Harris Corp. at 8–9 (Apr. 13, 2009); 

Independent Telephone & Telecommunications 

Alliance (ITTA) at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

3See Virginia Internet Service Providers Alliance 

at 5 (Apr. 10, 2009). 

4See, e.g., Farmers Mutual Telephone Company 

(Farmers Mutual) at 12 (Apr. 13, 2009); Motorola, 

Inc. at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009); Gardonville Cooperative 

Telephone Association (Gardonville Coop.) at 12 

(Apr. 13, 2009); Northern Valley Communications 

(Northern Valley) at 10 (Apr. 13, 2009); AT&T at 

10–11 (Apr. 13, 2009); Progress & Freedom 

Foundation at 5 (Apr. 10, 2009); 

Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) at 

13 (Apr. 10, 2009); Free Press at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009) 

(proposing a reduction in points for ‘‘networks that 

are highly asymmetric’’); WildBlue 

Communications at 4–5 (Apr. 13, 2009); Harris 

Corp. at 8–9; Alcatel-Lucent Corp. (Alcatel-Lucent) 

at 27 (Apr. 13, 2009); Western Telecommunications 

Alliance at 4–5 (Apr. 10, 2009); Cricket 

Communications (Cricket) at 8 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

5See, e.g., AT&T at 10–11. 

6See, e.g., Native American Telecom at 5 (Apr. 

13, 2009); Alaska Communications Systems at 10 

(Apr. 13, 2009). 

7See, e.g., Joe Cremin of Starwire Technologies in 

webform (Apr. 8, 2009). 

8See, e.g., Rural Telecommunications Congress at 

9 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

9See, e.g., Wireless Communications Association 

International, Inc. (WCA) at 3 (Apr. 9, 2009); 

Utopian Wireless Corp. at 3 (Apr. 13, 2009); 

Alvarion, Inc. at 9 (Apr. 14, 2009). 

10See, e.g., Buck Graham of Occam Networks 

(Graham) in webform (recommending 5 Mbps bidirectional) (Mar. 18, 2009); EvenLink, LLC at 3 

(Apr. 13, 2009) (advocating a standard of 5 mbps 

bi-directional, but suggesting a lower-speed 

definition for rural areas); William Wells Jr. of True 

Broadband Networks (Wells) (Mar. 17, 2009) 

(advocating a standard of 10 mbps bi-directional to 

‘‘allow real-time bi-directional transmission of 

simultaneous voice, video and data services’’). 

11See, e.g., Link Shadley at 1 (Mar. 20, 2009); 

Stratum Broadband at 32 (Mar. 31, 2009); Univ. of 

Nebraska at 6 (Apr. 10, 2009); Graham at webform; 

Wells at webform; U.S. TelePacific et al. at 3–4, 6 

(Apr. 13, 2009) (discussing business users’ need for 

symmetrical speeds for video teleconferencing, 

multiline VOIP, web hosting, and large email files). 

12See, e.g., ITTA at 35–36 (arguing that an 

asymmetrical threshold would be ‘‘consistent with 

the preferences expressed by consumers and 

providers alike through their behavior in the 

market’’); WCA at 12 (‘‘requiring symmetrical 

speeds for all product markets would disserve 

consumers and would not be technologically 

neutral’’); Starwire at webform; General 

Communication, Inc. (GCI) at 14–15 (Apr. 13, 2009); 

NetAccess System Technologies (NetAccess) at 9 

(Apr. 10, 2009). 

13See, e.g., Regulatory Commission of Alaska at 

12 (Apr. 13, 2009); Michael Blair of Blair 

Technologies at webform; Univ. of Nebraska at 2 

(stating that grant selection ‘‘[c]riteria should 

include speed, price/Mbps, latency, reliability, 

interoperability, coverage, sustainability, current 

capacity and growth capacity’’); Libbey Scheible of 

INOSS, Inc. (INOSS) at 6–7, 10 (suggesting a 

minimum latency of 20 milliseconds) (Apr. 10, 

2009); ADTRAN at Appendix 1 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

14See, e.g., Montana Independent Telecom 

Systems at 3 (referring to ‘‘the anticipated 

requirements for tomorrow’s applications and 

consumers’’) (Apr. 13, 2009); Fiber Tower Corp. at 

11–12 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

Rural Utilities Service, at (202) 690– 

1078 and Gwellnar Banks, DOC/OS, at 

(202) 482–3781. 

Comments. Comments are invited 

regarding: (a) Whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of RUS or NTIA, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agencies’ estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on those who are to respond, including 

through the use of appropriate 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. Comments for BIP may be 

sent to Michele Brooks, Rural Utilities 

Service, USDA, Rural Development, 

Stop 1530, 1400 Independence Ave., 

SW., Washington, DC 20250–1530 and 

for BTOP to Gwellnar Banks, 1401 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230. All responses to this Notice 

will be summarized and included in the 

request for OMB approval. All 

comments will also become a matter of 

public record. 

The grant application forms for BTOP 

Infrastructure, Public Computer Centers, 

and Sustainable Broadband Adoption 

projects and the subsequent step two 

filing are being reviewed and will be 

approved by the Office of Management 

and Budget under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act of 1995. OMB control 

numbers will be assigned and published 

in separate Federal Register notices. 

Notwithstanding any other provision of 

law, no person is required to respond to, 

nor shall any person be subject to a 

penalty for failure to comply with a 

collection of information subject to the 

Paperwork Reduction Act unless that 

collection displays a currently valid 

OMB Control Number. 

W. Recovery Act 

Additional information about the 

Recovery Act is available at http:// 

www.Recovery.gov. 

X. Authorized Signatories 

Only authorized grant and loan 

officers can bind the Government to the 

expenditure of funds. 

Appendix to Notice of Funds 

Availability—Broadband Initiatives 

Program and Broadband Technology 

Opportunities Program 

Policy Justification 

Definition of ‘‘Broadband’’ 

BTOP contains five core purposes, all 

of which relate to deployment of, access 

to, or support for ‘‘broadband service.’’ 1

The Recovery Act does not expressly 

define the term ‘‘broadband,’’ instead it 

tasks NTIA with defining what 

constitutes a ‘‘broadband service’’ 

eligible for BTOP support. The Recovery 

Act expands RUS’s existing authority to 

make loans and provides new authority 

to make grants to facilitate broadband 

deployment in rural areas. Thus, the 

term ‘‘broadband’’ figures prominently 

in both agencies’ statutory purposes and 

requires that RUS and NTIA agree to a 

common understanding of the term. 

Most commenters suggest a minimum 

transmission speed, ranging from 200 

kilobits per second (kbps) 2 to over 100 

megabits per second (mbps).3 A 

substantial contingent encourage NTIA 

to adopt a minimum speed of 768 kbps 

downstream, equivalent to the ‘‘Tier 1’’ 

threshold in the current FCC broadband 

data collection process.4 Many 

commenters encourage additional 

consideration for applicants promising 

speeds greater than the minimum.5

Some commenters prefer that NTIA 

evaluate speed against the project’s 

overall benefits,6 establish different 

speeds for rural and urban areas,7 or 

establish different speeds for different 

price points.8 Some wireless providers 

argue for different speed thresholds for 

wireless and fixed services.9 Other 

commenters favor a definition of 

broadband based upon the applications 

that would be supported.10 A number of 

commenters favor symmetrical 

speeds,11 but many providers claim that 

asymmetrical technologies are often 

more cost effective and efficient.12

Several commenters encourage NTIA to 

consider latency in addition to 

bandwidth when evaluating 

proposals.13 Several also encourage 

NTIA to consider not only current 

demand, but also the needs of future 

consumers.14

RUS and NTIA conclude that 

‘‘broadband service’’ should be defined 

as the provision of two-way data 

transmission with advertised speeds of 

at least 768 kilobits per second (kbps) 

downstream and 200 kbps upstream to 

end users, or providing sufficient 

capacity in a Middle Mile project to 

support the provision of broadband 

service to end users. 

RUS and NTIA favor this broadband 

speed threshold because it leverages the 

FCC’s expertise, utilizes an established 

standard, facilitates the use of many 


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15Recovery Act § 6001(b)(1), 123 Stat. at 512. 

16See, e.g., Farmers Mutual at 12 (less than 768 

kbps bi-directional peak load); American Fiber 

Systems at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009) (10 mbps or less from 

2 or fewer providers); ATSI Communications, Inc. 

at 11 (Apr. 13, 2009) (no provider of duplex 

broadband at more than 256 kpbs in either 

direction). 

17See, e.g., Alaska Federation of Natives at 8 

(Apr. 13, 2009); Michigan Public Service 

Commission (Michigan PSC) at 19 (Apr. 13, 2009); 

Communications Workers of America (CWA) at 21– 

22 (Apr. 13, 2009); Univ. of Nebraska at 1; 

NetAccess at 9. 

18See, e.g., XO Communications, LLC and 

Nextlink Wireless, Inc. (XO and Nextlink) at 7 (Apr. 

13, 2009) (90% of consumers to be served lack 

access to a provider of Current Generation 

Broadband Transmission Service, to be defined 

separately for wireline/fixed access and mobile 

wireless); Premium Choice Broadband at 3 (less 

than 25% availability of 768 kbps); Fiber-to-theHome Council (FTTH Council) at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009) 

(20% lack access to broadband). 

19See, e.g., WCA at 10. 

20See, e.g., City and County of San Francisco (San 

Francisco) at 25 (Apr. 13, 2009) (‘‘If broadband 

service is not affordable, it effectively is not 

available.’’); Institute for Local Self-Reliance at 8 

(Apr. 13, 2009). 

21Recovery Act § 6001(b)(2), 123 Stat. at 512. 

22See, e.g., American Fiber Systems at 4 (defining 

‘‘underserved area’’ as a ‘‘geographical area where 

90% or less of the population currently has access 

to a service at a speed less than 100 megabits from 

a single provider’’); Gardonville Coop. at 12 

(defining ‘‘underserved area’’ as an area ‘‘currently 

only able to receive broadband service at a speed 

of 768 Kbps to less than 12 Mbps, bi-directional, 

during peak-hour load’’); WCA at 4 (suggesting that 

a market is underserved if it ‘‘does not have access 

to mobile wireless broadband capable of delivering 

at least 3 mbps downlink and 768 kbps uplink 

speeds’’); Nebraska Rural Independent Companies 

at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009) (defining ‘‘underserved area’’ 

as ‘‘any geographical area * * * where only 

broadband service with download speeds between 

56 Kbps and 768 Kbps exist today’’); National Cable 

& Telecommunications Association (NCTA) at 23 

(Apr. 13, 2009) (‘‘An ‘underserved area’ should be 

defined as an area where no households have access 

to at least one provider of Internet access with 

current generation broadband transmission speeds, 

e.g., maximum transmission speeds of at least 3 

Mbps downstream and 768 kbps upstream. Satellite 

broadband service, which already is available 

throughout most of the country, should not be 

considered in applying this definition.’’). 

23See, e.g., National Association of 

Telecommunications Officers and Advisors 

(NATOA) at 34 (‘‘Unaffordable broadband services 

are unavailable.’’); Cricket at 3 (‘‘For millions of 

Americans * * * both wireline and wireless service 

options may be available just outside their door, but 

they nevertheless remain hopelessly out of reach at 

current prices or terms of service.’’); Consortium for 

School Networking et al. at 6 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

24See, e.g., JAB Wireless, Inc. at 2 (Apr. 9, 2009) 

(‘‘An underserved area should be defined as an area 

where a resident does not have a choice of at least 

2 broadband service providers providing minimum 

speeds of 3 Meg down.’’); segTEL at 7–8 (Apr. 13, 

2009); U.S. Telepacific et al. at 5. 

currently common broadband 

applications (e.g., web browsing, VOIP, 

and one-way video), allows for 

consideration of cost-effective solutions 

for difficult-to-serve areas, and is the 

most technology-neutral option (because 

it encompasses all major wired and 

wireless technologies). For these same 

reasons, RUS and NTIA decline to 

impose a latency requirement or 

technology-specific definitions. RUS 

and NTIA intend to provide additional 

consideration to applications exceeding 

the minimum speed threshold or 

offering superior upgradeability. This 

approach offers the greatest flexibility 

for the agencies and simplicity for 

applicants, while still expressing a 

preference for higher-capacity projects. 

An area that has access to service at 768 

kbps may still qualify as ‘‘underserved,’’ 

and an area that has only high-latency 

satellite service will still qualify as 

‘‘unserved.’’ 

Definition of ‘‘Unserved’’ 

One of the five core purposes of BTOP 

is ‘‘to provide access to broadband 

service to consumers residing in 

unserved areas of the United States.’’ 15

The Recovery Act does not expressly 

define the term ‘‘unserved,’’ instead it 

tasks NTIA with developing a definition 

that targets specific geographic areas 

and advances the program’s purposes. 

Grants under RUS’s Broadband 

Initiatives Program (BIP) are to be used 

to provide funds to applications 

proposing to exclusively serve remote, 

‘‘unserved’’ rural areas. 

The majority of commenters favor 

defining ‘‘unserved area’’ as a whole 

area lacking access to a certain quality 

of Internet service,16 or lacking access to 

technologies other than dial-up and 

satellite service.17 Some commenters, 

however, offer definitions based on a 

percentage of the population lacking 

such access.18 Some suggest that an area 

should be considered unserved if no 

mobile wireless broadband service is 

available.19 Finally, still others 

encourage the adoption of a definition 

of ‘‘unserved area’’ that encompasses 

communities where broadband 

infrastructure is available, but where 

barriers such as affordability effectively 

prevent residents from receiving 

broadband service.20

RUS and NTIA conclude that an 

appropriate definition of ‘‘unserved 

area’’ is a proposed funded service area 

(i.e., one or more contiguous census 

blocks, as discussed below) where at 

least 90 percent of households lack 

access to facilities-based, terrestrial 

broadband service, either fixed or 

mobile, at the minimum broadband 

transmission speed of 768 kbps 

downstream and 200 kbps upstream. A 

household has access to such broadband 

service if it can readily subscribe to that 

service upon request. 

Defining an unserved area by 

reference to the definition of broadband 

that RUS and NTIA adopt will ensure 

consistency between the needs in areas 

targeted for infrastructure funding and 

the improved access that will be 

provided by infrastructure projects that 

receive grants. RUS and NTIA believe 

that a definition requiring that 100 

percent of households lack access to 

broadband service could prove overly 

restrictive and risk inadvertently 

excluding populations that should 

properly fall within the ‘‘unserved’’ 

definition. For example, an area should 

not be considered served merely 

because one or two households in that 

area have access to broadband service. 

Establishing a 90 percent threshold 

acknowledges that a de minimis level of 

broadband service may exist in portions 

of the area, while also seeking to 

minimize the risk of unintentionally 

excluding an entire area from funding 

under the BTOP program. 

RUS and NTIA do not include 

existing satellite service in defining 

whether a given area is unserved, even 

though such service may meet the 

threshold speed level to qualify as 

broadband service under the definition 

adopted in this NOFA. Because the 

general reach of satellite service can 

extend to the entire country, it is 

excluded as a factor in the unserved 

definition to avoid a finding that no area 

in the United States would be 

considered unserved. Such a finding 

would render the term meaningless. 

Definition of ‘‘Underserved’’ 

Another of BTOP’s five core purposes 

is to ‘‘provide improved access to 

broadband service to consumers 

residing in underserved areas of the 

United States.’’ 21 The term 

‘‘underserved’’ is not a common term in 

telecommunications, although it is 

commonly applied in other fields, such 

as healthcare, education, social services 

and retail, to denote populations lacking 

access to critical services. As with the 

‘‘unserved’’ definition, the Recovery Act 

does not define ‘‘underserved,’’ instead 

it tasks NTIA with developing a 

definition that targets specific 

geographic areas and advances the 

program’s purposes. Under RUS’s BIP 

program, loan and loan/grant 

combination funds are to be used to 

provide funding to applications 

proposing to serve non-remote and 

‘‘underserved’’ rural areas. 

The majority of commenters favor 

definitions based on one or more of the 

following factors: availability of 

broadband service at a certain threshold 

speed,22 affordability,23 number of 

broadband service providers,24 and 


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25See, e.g., Wisconsin Department of Commerce 

at 2 (Apr. 8, 2009) (‘‘An ‘underserved area’ should 

be defined as an applicant area in which at least 

50% of households do not subscribe to a cable or 

DSL broadband service provider, regardless of 

whether or not broadband service is available, or an 

applicant area in which at least 50% of households 

have access to no more than one broadband internet 

service provider.’’); New Jersey Division of Rate 

Counsel at 2 (Apr. 8, 2009); One Economy 

Corporation at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009); Association of 

Public Television Stations at 9 (Apr. 13, 2009); San 

Francisco at 23–24. 

26See, e.g., FTTH Council at 11 (‘‘Underserved 

area means * * * a geographic area described by 

Census Tracts where more than 25% of the 

Community Anchor Institutions to be served by the 

project currently lack access to a provider of 

Advanced Broadband Wireline Service); eCLIC, the 

Emergency Communications Leadership and 

Innovation Center at 5 (Apr. 8, 2009) 

(‘‘ ‘Underserved’ would be any area lacking a digital 

hub and/or broadband infrastructure connecting 

LANs inside the rooms and grounds of schools, 

libraries, public safety and governmental 

institutions.’’); AT&T at 12. 

27See, e.g., Intrado Inc. and Intrado 

Communications Inc. at 5–6; National Emergency 

Number Association at 17 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

28See, e.g., XO and Nextlink at 8 (‘‘Underserved 

Area means: (1)(i) a geographic area that is not an 

unserved area where at least 90% of the customers 

to be served by the project lack access to more than 

one provider of Current Generation Broadband 

Transmission Service (which is to be determined 

separately for wireline/fixed wireless or mobile 

wireless providers) or (ii) a geographic area that is 

not an unserved area where at least 90% of the 

customers to be served by the project lack access 

to a provider of Advanced Broadband Transmission 

Service (which is to be determined separately for 

wireline/fixed wireless or mobile wireless 

providers); (2) a geographic area where at least 90% 

of the Community Anchor Institutions to be served 

by the project lack access to a provider of wireline/ 

fixed wireless Advanced Broadband Transmission 

Service; or (3) any census tract which is located in 

(i) an empowerment zone or enterprise community 

designated under section 1391, (ii) the District of 

Columbia Enterprise Zone established under 

section 1400, (iii) a renewal community designated 

under section 1400E, or (iv) a low-income 

community designated under section 45D.’’). 

29See, e.g., Matthew R. Rantanen, Director of 

Technology, Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s 

Association in webform (Apr. 13, 2009) (tribal 

lands); Pulse Broadband LLC at 4–5 (Apr. 13, 2009) 

(rural areas); Broadpoint, Inc. at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009) 

(the Gulf of Mexico). 

30See, e.g., ZeroDivide at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009) 

(citing ‘‘barriers to adoption including, race, 

ethnicity, language, physical capacity, economic 

conditions, and geography’’ and ‘‘low-income 

population as determined by state or federal 

guidelines, such as residents of low-income 

housing, area with a high rate of participation in 

free and reduced price lunch/breakfast program’’); 

Michigan PSC at 19. But see, e.g., Free Press at 6 

(‘‘Using the income of an area as the basis for an 

‘underserved’ definition is common in markets such 

as health care but is perhaps less fitting for 

infrastructure-based services such as broadband.’’). 

31See, e.g., City of Milwaukee in web form (Apr. 

13, 2009) (citing ‘‘computer literacy, internet 

literacy, ethnic and language diversity’’); Carl and 

Ruth Shapiro Family National Center for Accessible 

Media at WGBH (NCAM) and Inclusive 

Technologies at 5–6 (Apr. 13, 2009) (‘‘People with 

disabilities MUST be included in the definition of 

the underserved and unserved population and 

inclusion of their needs should be explicitly stated 

in all RFPs issued by NTIA.’’); Covad 

Communications Co. at 4 (Apr. 10, 2009) (urging 

NTIA to deem all small businesses underserved); 

NCTA at 23 (‘‘[B]efore funding construction in 

underserved areas, NTIA and RUS should provide 

funding for programs that assist underserved 

populations (low-income, seniors) to acquire and 

make use of broadband service.’’). 

32See, e.g., Barling Bay, LLC and Caption 

Colorado at 13–14 (Apr. 13, 2009) (arguing for 

recognition of deaf and hard of hearing students 

and rural students in poor school districts as 

unserved or underserved for purposes of broadband 

adoption programs). 

subscribership or adoption rates.25

Some commenters also suggest 

definitions that would include areas 

where major community institutions 

lack sufficient broadband access.26

Several others also encourage the 

agencies to consider the particular 

needs of public safety.27 Many 

commenters propose multi-pronged 

definitions that include multiple ways 

an area could qualify as underserved 28

while others argue that the agencies 

should adopt a presumption that certain 

types of areas are underserved.29

Several commenters urge the adoption 

of a separate definition of 

‘‘underserved’’ for broadband adoption 

programs, focusing on the 

characteristics of the population to be 

served rather than on the characteristics 

of a geographic area.30 Many 

commenters draw attention to types of 

users they believe should be considered 

underserved.31

RUS and NTIA conclude that the 

extent to which a proposed funded 

service area is underserved will be 

evaluated using several criteria that are 

grouped to reflect the two distinct 

components of the Broadband 

Infrastructure category of eligible 

projects—Last Mile and Middle Mile (as 

defined in this NOFA)—and take 

account of both advertised broadband 

speeds and availability of broadband 

service. Specifically, a proposed funded 

service area (i.e., one or more 

contiguous census blocks) may qualify 

as underserved for Last Mile projects if 

at least one of the following factors is 

met, though the presumption will be 

that more than one factor is present: i) 

no more than 50 percent of the 

households in the proposed funded 

service area have access to facilitiesbased, terrestrial broadband service at 

greater than the minimum broadband 

transmission speed of 768 kbps 

downstream and 200 kbps upstream; ii) 

no fixed or mobile broadband service 

provider advertises broadband 

transmission speeds of at least three 

megabits per second (‘‘mbps’’) 

downstream in the proposed funded 

service area; or iii) the rate of broadband 

subscribership for the proposed funded 

service area is 40 percent of households 

or less. A proposed funded service area 

may qualify as underserved for Middle 

Mile projects if one interconnection 

point terminates in a proposed funded 

service area that qualifies as unserved or 

underserved for Last Mile projects. 

RUS and NTIA recognize that in some 

areas of the country, particularly in 

rural areas, many of the underserved 

criteria for Last Mile projects will apply. 

The underserved definition includes a 

broadband speed criterion to recognize 

that a proposed funded service area can 

have the minimum level of broadband 

service available (defined as 768 kbps 

downstream and 200 kbps upstream), 

but still be considered ‘‘underserved.’’ 

NTIA and RUS do not want to exclude 

proposals to improve the broadband 

speeds available in a proposed funded 

service area simply because the 

threshold broadband speed is already 

available. 

RUS and NTIA decline to define 

‘‘underserved’’ according to particular 

pricing plans, median income, or 

demographic characteristics because the 

adopted definition uses the criteria of 

low levels of broadband subscribership 

as a proxy for these factors. Studies 

suggest a strong, direct correlation 

between income levels and broadband 

subscribership; thus, lower broadband 

subscribership rates will tend to reflect 

lower income households. Low 

broadband subscribership rates also 

tend to be seen among seniors, 

minorities, and other vulnerable or 

disadvantaged population groups. 

NTIA will use the definition of 

‘‘underserved’’ only for purposes of 

evaluating Broadband Infrastructure 

proposals under BTOP. For Public 

Computer Center and Sustainable 

Broadband Adoption proposals, NTIA 

will evaluate the characteristics of the 

population to be served, rather than the 

Internet services available, in the 

geographic areas where the programs are 

located. Service to vulnerable (rather 

than ‘‘underserved’’) populations will 

be a critical factor in evaluating such 

proposals. NTIA, therefore, interprets 

comments advocating inclusion of 

certain categories of users as 

‘‘underserved’’ for the purposes of such 

programs as arguments for recognition 

of these categories as ‘‘vulnerable 

populations.’’ 32

Utilizing Census Blocks To Define 

Proposed Funded Service Areas 

The geographic area used to assess the 

degree of broadband coverage is a key 

element in defining the terms 

‘‘unserved’’ and ‘‘underserved’’ found in 

the BTOP provisions discussed in the 

preceding sections. Additionally, the 

Recovery Act allows RUS to fund a 


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33Recovery Act div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 118. 

34See, e.g., FTTH Council at 10–11. 

35See, e.g., American Cable Association at 6 (Apr. 

14, 2009); Rural Cellular Association at 42 (Apr. 13, 

2009); XO and Nextlink at 6, n. 14. 

36See, e.g., American Cable Association at 6; 

Rural Cellular Association at 42. 

37Rural Cellular Association at 42. 

38See, e.g., Wireless Internet Service Providers 

Association (WISPA) at 8 (Apr. 10, 2009) 

(supporting census blocks as the basic geographical 

unit and stating, ‘‘No ‘unserved’ or ‘underserved’ 

community should be disqualified because it is too 

small.’’); Frontier Communications at 12 (Apr. 13, 

2009) (‘‘An ‘area’ should be determined at as small 

a geographic level as possible. Using entire census 

communities or census blocks will disadvantage 

many unserved areas that are adjacent to served 

areas.’’). See also Smith Bagley, Inc. at 3–4 (Apr. 13, 

2009) (suggesting that NTIA require applicants to 

submit a spreadsheet of census blocks with 

estimates of unserved and underserved households 

and businesses). 

39See, e.g., ITTA at 2–3 (‘‘Each applicant should 

be able to define its proposed service area, 

including aggregating both adjacent and noncontiguous clusters of unserved homes.’’); Embarq 

at 18 (Apr. 13, 2009); CWA at 22. 

40See, e.g., Windstream Communications, Inc., 

(Windstream) at 28 (Apr. 14, 2009) (‘‘Pockets of 

unserved and underserved customers are unlikely 

to fall neatly within existing, arbitrary geographic 

units, such as ZIP codes or census blocks.’’). 

41See Recovery Act div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 119. 

42Recovery Act § 6001(j), 123 Stat. at 512. 

43See, e.g., Verizon at 13 (Apr. 13, 2009); AT&T 

at 14–16; OPASTCO at 11–12 (Apr. 13, 2009); 

National Exchange Carrier Assoc. (NECA) at 6 (Apr. 

13, 2009). 

44See, e.g., Motorola at 13–15; Cisco at 9 (Apr. 

13, 2009). 

45See, e.g., CTIA at 8 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

46See, e.g., MPAA, RIAA et al. at 3 (Apr. 13, 

2009). 

47See, e.g., Free Press at 18; Open Internet 

Coalition at 2 (Mar. 10, 2009); Center for Democracy 

& Technology at 3–5 (Apr. 13, 2009); EDUCAUSE 

at 4–5 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

48See Clearwire Corp. at 14–15 (Apr. 10, 2009); 

Earthlink and NewEdge at 4–5 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

49See, e.g., Michigan PSC at 8; State of Arizona 

at 11 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

50See, e.g., City of Palo Alto at 19–20 (Apr. 13, 

2009). 

51Recovery Act § 6001(j), 123 Stat. at 515. 

broadband project with Recovery Act 

funds only if ‘‘at least 75 percent of the 

area to be served [is] in a rural area 

without sufficient access to high speed 

broadband service to facilitate rural 

economic development, as determined 

by the Secretary of Agriculture.’’ 33 As a 

result, RUS must also define the 

relevant ‘‘area’’ to which it would apply 

the criteria for sufficiency of access to 

broadband service. 

Most commenters suggest defining 

‘‘area’’ according to governmentrecognized boundaries. For example, 

multiple commenters suggest the use of 

census tracts,34 pointing out that the 

FCC already collects service data at the 

census tract level 35 and that census 

tracts are relatively small.36 Rural 

Cellular Association also points out that 

government-defined boundaries are 

technologically neutral because they do 

not correspond to the existing service 

areas for any particular technology.37

Multiple commenters also state a 

preference for census blocks, or the 

smallest geographic designation 

possible, so that proposals for service to 

all truly underserved geographic 

locations qualify for BTOP funding.38

In contrast, some commenters 

encourage the agencies to allow 

applicants to define their own service 

areas to be evaluated against the criteria 

established for ‘‘unserved’’ or 

‘‘underserved’’ areas.39 Many of these 

commenters express concern that 

requiring pre-defined geographic units 

to qualify as ‘‘unserved’’ or 

‘‘underserved’’ areas will exclude 

regions within those geographic units 

that actually lack access to broadband 

service.40

RUS and NTIA conclude that 

applicants should be allowed to define 

their own proposed funded service 

areas, which are composed of one or 

more contiguous census blocks. RUS 

and NTIA believe that employing 

census blocks, a standardized, 

technologically neutral geographic unit, 

will facilitate the comparison of data 

from applicants proposing to serve 

overlapping regions and will facilitate 

compliance with the statutory 

prohibition against providing BTOP and 

BIP funding for the same project in the 

same area.41 RUS and NTIA have 

attempted to accommodate commenters’ 

concerns about the inadvertent 

exclusion of areas in need of broadband 

service by adopting a very granular 

definition of proposed funded service 

area and defining ‘‘unserved’’ and 

‘‘underserved,’’ and ‘‘without sufficient 

access to high speed broadband service 

to facilitate rural economic 

development’’ in terms of the 

percentages of a proposed funded 

service area meeting the definitional 

criteria. 

An applicant must identify the census 

block(s) selected for the project and 

provide documentation supporting the 

applicant’s determination that the 

proposed funded service area is either 

unserved or underserved. There is a 

presumption that the applicant will 

provide service to the entire territory of 

each census block included in the 

proposed funded service area, unless 

the applicant files a waiver and 

provides a reasoned explanation as to 

why providing coverage for the entire 

census block is infeasible. Applicants 

may be permitted to serve less than the 

entire census block under certain 

conditions. For example, an applicant 

might seek a waiver if the census block 

exceeds 100 square miles or more or is 

larger than the applicant’s authorized 

operating territory, e.g., it splits a rural 

incumbent local exchange carrier’s 

(ILEC) study area or exceeds the 

boundaries of a wireless carrier’s 

licensed territory. 

Interconnection and NonDiscrimination Requirements 

The Recovery Act requires NTIA to 

establish ‘‘non-discrimination and 

network interconnection obligations 

that shall be contractual conditions of 

grants * * * including, at a minimum, 

adherence to the principles contained in 

the [FCC’s] broadband policy 

statement.’’ 42 The Recovery Act does 

not require RUS to impose these 

obligations on its grantees or borrowers. 

Major incumbent service providers, 

rural carriers, and their trade 

associations urge that the 

interconnection and non-discrimination 

obligations be limited to the FCC 

Internet Policy Statement.43 These 

operators emphasize that imposing new 

requirements in the BTOP process 

would cause uncertainty and deter 

applicants from applying for grants. 

Major equipment manufacturers share 

this view.44 Cellular operators and CTIA 

assert that wireless networks need the 

ability to prioritize traffic due to limited 

capacity.45 Content owners argue that 

non-discrimination obligations should 

not preclude copyright enforcement.46

On the other side, public interest 

groups 47 and potential new entrants 48

advocate additional obligations, 

generally some combination of 

interconnection language from Title II of 

the Communications Act and nondiscrimination requirements precluding 

degradation or inferior treatment of 

applications, content, and services. 

Many states 49 and most of the cities 

filing comments 50 urge the inclusion of 

some open access or non-discrimination 

obligations. 

RUS and NTIA require applicants to 

commit to five obligations. These 

requirements, discussed in more depth 

below, are subject to the needs of law 

enforcement and reasonable network 

management practices. 

(1) Adhere to the principles contained 

in the FCC’s Broadband Policy 

Statement (FCC 05–151 adopted Aug. 5, 

2005). 

This requirement is specified in the 

Recovery Act.51

(2) Not favor any lawful Internet 

applications or content over others. 

This requirement ensures neutral 

traffic routing. Without a nondiscrimination condition, network 


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52See In the Matter of AT&T Inc. and BellSouth 

Corporation, WC Docket No. 06–74, Memorandum 

Opinion and Order, FCC 06–189, App. F at 154 

(Mar. 26, 2007), http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/

edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-06-189A1.pdf. 

53See 47 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. 

54Recovery Act § 6001(j), 123 Stat. at 512. 

55 Internet Policy Statement, FCC 05–15, adopted 

Aug. 5, 2005. 

56Recovery Act div. A, tit. I, 123 Stat. at 118. This 

language does not appear in the BTOP section of the 

Recovery Act, but is consistent with the network 

interconnection and non-discrimination obligations 

specified there. 

operators could give preferential 

treatment to affiliated services, or charge 

some application and content providers 

for ‘‘fast lanes’’ that would put others at 

a competitive disadvantage. The 

standard used here is a more general 

version of the one the FCC imposed in 

the AT&T/BellSouth merger conditions, 

which specified no differential 

treatment of packets based on source, 

destination, or ownership.52 Awardees 

may employ generally accepted 

technical measures to provide 

acceptable service levels to all 

customers, such as caching and 

application-neutral bandwidth 

allocation, as well as measures to 

address spam, denial of service attacks, 

illegal content, and other harmful 

activities. They also may comply with 

applicable statutes such as the 

Communications Assistance to Law 

Enforcement Act (CALEA).53

Furthermore, this requirement applies 

only to Internet applications and 

content, that is, those that traverse the 

public Internet. Awardees may offer 

managed services such as telemedicine, 

public safety communications, and 

distance learning, which use private 

connections or virtual private networks, 

rather than the public Internet. This 

approach ensures that awardees do not 

distort the Internet’s neutral 

environment for applications and 

content, while giving them the 

flexibility to design their networks in a 

technically efficient manner and the 

ability to provide services that may 

require enhanced quality of service or 

separate connections for privacy and 

security reasons. 

(3) Display network management 

policies in a prominent location on the 

service provider’s Web page and provide 

notice to customers of changes to these 

policies (awardees must describe any 

business practices or technical 

mechanisms they employ, other than 

standard best efforts Internet delivery, to 

allocate capacity; differentiate among 

applications, providers, or sources; limit 

usage; and manage or block access to 

illegal or harmful content). 

This public notice requirement is 

intended to provide full disclosure of 

these network management practices to 

users and potential users to enable them 

to make informed decisions regarding 

how their usage may be impacted by 

current policies and any modifications 

that are subsequently made. 

(4) Connect to the public Internet 

directly or indirectly, such that the 

project is not an entirely private closed 

network. 

An entirely private closed network 

would make the interconnection and 

non-discrimination obligations moot, 

since the project would not offer access 

to Internet applications and content. 

(5) Offer interconnection, where 

technically feasible, on reasonable rates 

and terms to be negotiated with 

requesting parties. This includes both 

the ability to connect to the public 

Internet and physical interconnection 

for the exchange of traffic. 

The Recovery Act mandates 

conditions for ‘‘network 

interconnection,’’ 54 which the FCC 

Policy Statement and nondiscrimination conditions alone do not 

address. Moreover, an interconnection 

condition promotes competition in enduser service provision, consistent with 

the Recovery Act’s directives. 

Specifically, the fourth prong of the FCC 

Policy Statement states that users are 

entitled to a choice of service 

providers.55 The Recovery Act 

incorporates this element by reference, 

because it requires applicants to meet 

the Policy Statement’s principles as a 

minimum condition. The Recovery Act 

also requires RUS to give priority to 

projects offering a choice of end-user 

service providers,56 which is only 

possible if funded projects offer 

interconnection. As a general policy 

matter, interconnection allows synergies 

where others can benefit from 

subsidized infrastructure. Wholesale 

service may also generate additional 

revenue for recipients, and increase 

capital efficiency by maximizing 

utilization of network capacity. Where 

not inconsistent with other Recovery 

Act goals, RUS and NTIA will seek the 

greatest possible expansion of 

broadband from its investment. 

An awardee may satisfy the 

requirement for interconnection by 

negotiating in good faith with all bona 

fide requesting parties that wish to 

connect to the public Internet using the 

awardee’s network or to exchange 

traffic. Interconnection must take place 

where technically feasible and without 

exceeding current or anticipated 

capacity limitations. The awardee and 

requesting party may negotiate terms 

such as business arrangements, capacity 

limits, financial terms, and technical 

conditions for interconnection. If the 

awardee and requesting party cannot 

reach agreement, they may voluntarily 

seek an interpretation by the FCC of any 

FCC rules implicated in the dispute. If 

an agreement cannot be reached within 

90 days, the party requesting 

interconnection may notify RUS or 

NTIA in writing of the failure to reach 

satisfactory terms with the awardee. The 

90-day limit is to encourage the parties 

to resolve differences through 

negotiation. 

This approach encourages 

interconnection without requiring 

micromanagement of private 

negotiations. Appropriate 

interconnection terms will vary 

depending on the type of project, the 

technologies involved, the type of 

provider requesting interconnection, 

and the dynamics of the local market. 

There is no need to enforce uniform 

terms or pricing standards, so long as 

parties negotiate in good faith to reach 

mutually-beneficial business 

agreements. A more formal 

interconnection regime would require 

enforcement resources beyond the scope 

of BTOP. 

Entities that successfully reach an 

agreement to interconnect with a system 

funded under BIP may not use that 

interconnection agreement to provide 

services that duplicate services 

provided by projects funded by 

outstanding telecommunications loans 

made under the Rural Electrification 

Act. Further, interconnection may not 

result in a BIP-funded facility being 

used for ineligible purposes under the 

Recovery Act. These limitations are 

needed to comply with pre-existing loan 

agreements and Recovery Act language 

for RUS, but do not apply to BTOP. 

With respect to non-discrimination, 

those who believe an awardee has failed 

to meet the non-discrimination 

obligations should first seek action at 

the FCC of any FCC rules implicated in 

the dispute. If the FCC chooses to take 

no action, those seeking recourse may 

notify RUS and NTIA in writing about 

the alleged failure to adhere to 

commitments of the award. 

Overall, these five requirements 

ensure that public funds will support 

the public goal of open networks. The 

standards chosen echo established FCC 

rules, but avoid detailed regulation and 

allow for flexibility when network 

management requires differential 

treatment or exclusivity. The standards 

chosen are technologically neutral and 

appropriate for the widest possible 

range of applications, because the 

definition of reasonable network 

management may differ based on the 


sroberts on DSKD5P82C1PROD with NOTICES
33134 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 130 / Thursday, July 9, 2009 / Notices 

57See, e.g., Qwest Communications (Qwest) at 9– 

13 (Apr. 13, 2009); NCTA at 6; Bresnan 

Communications et al., at 5 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

58See, e.g., Alcatel-Lucent at 15. 

59See, e.g., CWA at 6; EDUCAUSE at 4; Georgia 

Technology Authority at 4 (Apr. 13, 2009); State of 

Alabama at 7 (Apr. 13, 2009); State of Wyoming at 

2 (Apr. 10, 2009). 

60See, e.g., Windstream at 8–9; American Cable 

Association at 5–6. 

61See, e.g., Kentucky Municipal Utilities 

Association at 7–8 (Apr. 13, 2009); National Rural 

Electrical Cooperative Association at 8–9 (Apr. 13, 

2009); NATOA at 8–11. 

62See, e.g., The Benton Foundation at 14–19 

(Mar. 20, 2009). 

63For example, several commenters proposed 

that private firms should receive grants only in 

areas where government or non-profit entities do 

not apply. See, e.g., SEDA Council of Governments 

at 1 (Mar. 24, 2009); NATOA at 9. Some small rural 

telephone companies favored limiting eligibility for 

large providers. See, e.g., National 

Telecommunications Cooperative Association at 3– 

4 (Apr. 13, 2009). 

64See Conf. Rep. at 775 (stating that ‘‘as many 

entities as possible [should] be eligible to apply for 

a competitive grant, including wireless carriers, 

wireline carriers, backhaul providers, satellite 

carriers, private-public partnerships, and tower 

companies’’). 

65See Qwest at 10–12; NCTA at 6; Windstream 

at 9. 

66See Qwest at 10–14; Windstream at 9. 

67See State of Alabama at 7. 

network technology used and other 

dimensions of the project. Applicants 

are required to disclose interconnection, 

nondiscrimination, and network 

management plans with their 

applications, and provide regular 

network reporting, to facilitate 

compliance and better understanding of 

appropriate network management 

techniques. As noted above, applicants 

are required to provide clear and 

prominent public disclosure of network 

management policies to customers. 

Additional scoring points will be 

awarded for clear and prominent public 

disclosure of interconnection and 

nondiscrimination policies to 

customers. 

These conditions will apply for the 

life of the awardee’s facilities used in 

the project and not to any existing 

network arrangements. The conditions 

apply to any contractors or 

subcontractors of such awardees 

employed to deploy or operate the 

network facilities for the infrastructure 

project. To the extent that the FCC takes 

action in this area, such as by modifying 

its Internet Policy Statement or by 

adopting additional or different rules or 

policies, awardees will become subject 

to FCC rules and policies in lieu of the 

conditions set forth only to the extent 

that the FCC rules or policies effectively 

supersede the conditions set forth 

above. Recipients that fail to accept or 

comply with the terms listed above may 

be considered in default or breach of 

their loan or grant agreements. RUS and 

NTIA may exercise all available 

remedies to cure the default. 

Eligibility 

Section 6001(e)(1) of the Recovery Act 

expressly identifies the types of entities 

that are eligible for BTOP grants and 

authorizes the Assistant Secretary to 

find by rule that it may be in the public 

interest for any other entity, including a 

broadband service or infrastructure 

provider, to be eligible. Section 

6001(e)(1)(C) also requires that ‘‘[i]n 

establishing such rule, the Assistant 

Secretary shall to the extent practicable 

promote the purposes of [BTOP] in a 

technologically neutral manner.’’ The 

Recovery Act does not explicitly 

identify the entities that are eligible for 

RUS broadband funding. 

The comments of service providers of 

all types,57 equipment suppliers,58 and 

various other entities 59 state that 

private, for-profit companies should 

generally be eligible for BTOP funding. 

Some service providers propose 

automatic eligibility for service 

providers who already hold a license or 

franchise or who already provide 

broadband service.60 Several nonprofits, government entities, and small 

providers argue that no for-profit entity 

should be eligible without a public 

interest showing, either 

individualized 61 or based on its 

agreement to adhere to additional 

conditions,62 or otherwise favor only 

limited for-profit eligibility.63

Through this NOFA, the Assistant 

Secretary of Commerce for 

Communications and Information has 

found it to be in the public interest to 

permit for-profit corporations and nonprofit entities (not otherwise 

encompassed by section 6001(e)(1)(A)) 

that are willing to promote the goals of 

the Recovery Act and comply with the 

statutory requirements of BTOP to be 

eligible for a grant. By adopting this 

broad approach, the Assistant Secretary 

intends to invite a diverse group of 

applicants to participate in BTOP, 

which reflects his desire to expand 

broadband capabilities in the United 

States in a technology-neutral manner. 

This approach is consistent with 

Congressional intent in this regard.64

This finding is reasonable because of the 

positive impact that the inclusion of forprofit corporations will have on the 

administrative and programmatic 

requirements of this program. Many forprofit corporations have expertise in 

deployment and sustainable operation 

of telecommunications facilities,65

which may lead to the creation of more 

efficient and sophisticated broadband 

networks that consumers will be able to 

access in a shorter period of time. In 

some cases, for-profit corporations also 

may have the resources to deploy new 

infrastructure more quickly or 

efficiently than other types of entities.66

Moreover, for-profit corporations 

provide economic growth and job 

creation, which is consistent with many 

of the key purposes of the Recovery 

Act.67

Dated: July 1, 2009. 

James R. Newby, 

Acting Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

Thomas C. Power, 

Chief of Staff, National Telecommunications 

and Information Administration. 

[FR Doc. E9–16268 Filed 7–8–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–15–P 


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