Louisiana Administrative Code › Title 4 - ADMINISTRATION › Part XXI - Granting Unserved Municipalities Broadband Opportunities › Chapter 2 - Mapping Areas for Broadband Service and Project Area Eligibility Requirements › Section XXI-203 - Resources for Identification of Project Areas

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 6, June 20, 2024
A. Applicants can
				apply for funding to serve individual addresses as set forth in Chapter 3:
				Applications of this Part.
B.
1. The Office shall secure broadband
				availability mapping information and data from any entity, public or private,
				providing internet access service to at least one location, within the
				jurisdiction of the state, to assist the office in compiling a statewide
				parish-by-parish broadband availability map identifying the locations,
				technologies, and reliable transmission speed capabilities of broadband service
				in the state. At the request of the Office, any such entity shall submit to the
				Office, on or before the fifteenth day following the expiration of the date
				required for submission of broadband availability and deployment information to
				the federal government, any such broadband availability and deployment
				information. Such information shall be submitted to the office and shall
				contain the same information and be provided in the same format as it was
				submitted to the Federal Communications Commission, or any other federal
				entity, in a manner specified by the office. Specific to this requirement, in
				no instance shall an entity be required to provide any data or information
				beyond that which it is required to provide to the Federal Communications
				Commission or any other federal entity.
2. Any entity that does not comply with this
				submission requirement or submits inaccurate information, may be ineligible to
				participate in, or receive any funding from, any state-administered grant
				program designated for broadband infrastructure deployment in the state in the
				calendar year of noncompliance and through the following calendar year.
a. Any location in the state purportedly
				served by any entity providing internet access service to at least one location
				in the state, that does not comply with this submission requirement, may be
				considered to have internet access service of less than 100:20 Mbps.
3. Any broadband availability
				mapping data and information, submitted as part of this mapping submission
				requirement, shall be used solely for the purpose of identifying served,
				underserved, and unserved locations and areas to aid in the administration of
				the GUMBO grant program and for no additional purpose.
4. Any entity submitting broadband
				availability mapping data and information, submitted as part of this mapping
				submission requirement, may be afforded the opportunity to review a proposed
				draft of the state broadband map prior to publication or utilization of the map
				for any state-administered grant application period or program designated for
				broadband infrastructure deployment in the state, and submit any necessary
				corrective data and information to the office. In conjunction with this review,
				the office shall provide for a challenge period and process to allow any such
				entity to challenge any location or area deemed eligible for any
				state-administered grant program designated for broadband infrastructure
				deployment in the state that overlaps with the challenging entity's verified
				service territory.
5. The Office
				may contract with a private entity, third-party consultant, or state agency, or
				any combination thereof, to develop and maintain the state broadband
				availability map. Any contract entered into by the office with any private
				entity, third-party consultant, or state agency, or any combination thereof,
				for such purpose shall include a confidentiality agreement prohibiting the
				disclosure of any broadband availability mapping data and information. During
				the development and maintenance of the state broadband availability map, in no
				instance shall a regional planning district or commission of the state have
				access to provider-identifying broadband availability mapping data and
				information submitted as part of this mapping submission requirement.
6. Broadband availability mapping data and
				information submitted as part of this mapping submission requirement shall be
				exempt from the Public Records Law and shall be considered confidential,
				proprietary, and a trade secret of the entity providing such information. The
				Office, as well as any private entity, third-party consultant, or state agency
				retained or employed in the development or maintenance of the map, specific to
				provider-identifying information, shall keep such information strictly
				confidential and shall not disclose such information, or cause or permit to be
				disclosed such information, to any third person, private entity, or public body
				as defined in
				R.S.
				44:1 and shall take all actions reasonably
				necessary to ensure that such information remains strictly confidential and is
				not disclosed to or seen, used, or obtained by any third person, private
				entity, or public body as defined in
				R.S.
				44:1.
7. This broadband availability mapping data
				and information submission requirement shall be subject to the termination
				provisions provided for in
				R.S.
				51:2370.3.