NTIA and RUS have until September 30, 2010, to obligate the Recovery Act funding for broadband projects. While the completion time will vary depending on the complexity of the project, recipients of BTOP grants and BIP awards must substantially complete projects supported by these programs no later than 2 years, and projects must be fully completed no later than 3 years, following the date of issuance of the award. As we reported in November 2009, NTIA and RUS faced a number of challenges in evaluating applications and awarding broadband stimulus funds during the first funding round. For example, although both agencies had previously administered small telecommunications grant or loan programs, they had to review more applications and award far more funds with fewer staff to carry out their Recovery Act programs. In addition, the agencies faced tight time frames for awarding funds. To address these challenges, NTIA and RUS awarded contracts to Booz Allen Hamilton and ICF International, respectively, to help the agencies implement the programs within the required time frames. The contractors have supported the development and implementation of application review processes, helped with the review of technical and financial materials, and assisted in the development of postaward monitoring and reporting requirements. To meet the September 30, 2010, deadline to award Recovery Act funds, NTIA and RUS have established project categories for directing funds to meet the act’s requirements; released two funding notices; conducted public outreach to increase participation among all eligible entities; developed processes to accept, evaluate, advance, and award applications; and advanced efforts to oversee recipients to ensure proper use of Recovery Act funds. For the first funding round, NTIA and RUS coordinated their efforts and issued one joint funding notice detailing the requirements, rules, and procedures for applying for funding. The first 18 broadband stimulus awards were announced on December 17, 2009. NTIA and RUS completed the first round of awards on April 26 and March 30, 2010, respectively. Table 1 shows the funding timeline for NTIA’s and RUS’s broadband stimulus programs. Table 2 summarizes the categories of projects eligible for funding during the first round for both BTOP and BIP. Based on the agencies’ experiences with the first round, and drawing on public comments, both NTIA and RUS made changes to how the second- round funding for BTOP and BIP will be structured and conducted. Unlike the first round, NTIA and RUS issued separate funding notices and applicants had the option of applying to either BTOP or BIP, but not to both. In the second round, NTIA will again award grants for three categories of eligible projects, however the infrastructure program has been reoriented toward Comprehensive Community Infrastructure grants, which will support Middle Mile projects serving anchor institutions such as community colleges, libraries, hospitals, universities, and public safety institutions. RUS has prioritized Last Mile projects and added 3 new grant programs: Satellite, Rural Library, and Technical Assistance projects. Table 3 provides information on the second-round project categories. The first funding notice, published July 9, 2009, set forth the processes for reviewing applications that NTIA and RUS followed during the first funding round. Both agencies developed a multistep application review process designed to balance the applicants’ need for time to prepare their applications with the agencies’ need for time to review them, as well as to minimize the burden on the applicants that did not ultimately qualify for program funding. Generally, both agencies initially screened applications to determine whether they were complete and eligible and then submitted the qualifying applications to a due-diligence review. For this review, the applicants were asked to submit additional documentation to further substantiate their financial, technical, and other project information. Table 4 compares the agencies’ first-round application review processes. In addition to implementing the BTOP program, NTIA is implementing the broadband mapping provisions referenced in the Recovery Act. Up to $350 million of the $4.7 billion was available to NTIA pursuant to the Broadband Data Improvement Act and for the purpose of developing and maintaining a nationwide map of broadband service availability. NTIA explained that this program would fund projects that collect comprehensive and accurate state-level broadband mapping data, develop state-level broadband maps, aid in the development and maintenance of a national broadband map, and fund statewide initiatives directed at broadband planning. NTIA accepted applications for the State Broadband Data and Development Grant program until August 14, 2009. NTIA originally funded state data collection efforts for a 2-year period, allowing the agency to assess initial state activities before awarding funding for the remainder of this 5-year initiative. On May 28, 2010, NTIA announced that state governments and other existing awardees had until July 1, 2010, to submit amended and supplemental applications for 3 additional years of mapping and data collection activities and to support all other eligible purposes under the Broadband Data Improvement Act. In the first round of broadband stimulus funding, NTIA and RUS received almost 2,200 applications and awarded 150 grants, loans, and loan/grant combinations totaling over $2.2 billion in federal funds to a variety of entities for projects in nearly every state and U.S. territory. This funding includes over $1.2 billion for 82 BTOP projects and more than $1 billion for 68 BIP projects. More than 70 percent of these projects were awarded to non-governmental entities, such as for-profit corporations, nonprofit organizations, and cooperative associations. Ten BTOP and 3 BIP grants were awarded to applicants with multistate projects. For example, RUS awarded a grant to Peetz Cooperative Telephone Company for a Last Mile Remote project covering parts of Colorado and Nebraska and NTIA awarded a grant to One Economy Corporation for a Sustainable Broadband Adoption project covering parts of 32 states. Figure 1 illustrates the locations of the broadband stimulus projects and the total project funding per state awarded in the first round. BTOP. During the first funding round, NTIA awarded more than $1 billion in BTOP funds for 49 broadband infrastructure projects to deploy Middle Mile and Last Mile broadband technology to unserved and underserved areas of the United States; $57 million for 20 Public Computer Center projects to provide access to broadband, computer equipment, computer training, job training, and educational resources to the general public and specific vulnerable populations; and $110 million for 13 Sustainable Broadband Adoption projects to promote broadband demand through innovation, especially among vulnerable population groups that have traditionally underused broadband technology. NTIA awarded grants to a variety of entities in the first funding round, including public entities, for-profits, nonprofits, cooperative associations, and tribal entities. Our analysis of NTIA’s data shows that public entities, such as states, municipalities, or other local governments, received the largest number of BTOP grants and largest percentage of the funding. This funding supports BTOP projects in 45 states and territories. Table 5 shows the entity types and the amounts of funding per entity type during the first round. Of the 82 grants awarded, over half were for infrastructure projects, and NTIA awarded over 40 percent of these grants to for-profit entities in the first round. NTIA awarded Public Computer Center and Sustainable Broadband Adoption projects to public entities and nonprofit organizations. Table 6 shows the types of entities awarded funds for each BTOP funding category. BIP. During the first funding round, RUS announced 49 broadband infrastructure awards totaling nearly $740 million in program funding for Last-Mile nonremote projects, 13 awards totaling $161 million for Last Mile remote projects, and 6 awards totaling $167 million for Middle Mile broadband infrastructure projects. The majority of funding was awarded in the form of loan/grant combinations. Of the nearly $1.1 billion in first round funding, RUS awarded 53 loan/grant combinations totaling over $957 million in program funds, 12 grants totaling about $69 million, and 3 loans totaling over $41 million. RUS awarded grants, loans, and loan/grant combinations to a variety of entities. Eighty-five percent of BIP recipients are for-profit companies or cooperative associations. Four tribal entities also received BIP funding. In addition, 43 of the 68 BIP recipients are Title II borrowers and have previously received rural electrification and telephone loans from RUS. These represent the incumbent local telecommunications providers in the funding area. Table 7 shows the entity types and amount of funding received during the first round. RUS made nearly three-quarters of its awards for Last Mile non-remote projects and the majority of these awards went to for-profit and cooperative associations. Table 8 shows the types of entities that received awards and the number of projects awarded in each BIP funding category. As of June 29, 2010, RUS had provided $899.6 million in program funds for 61 of these 68 projects, representing approximately 85 percent of the awards announced in the first round. This amount represents about $485 million charged against RUS’s Recovery Act budget authority. Of the remaining projects, 4 are still in the contract award process and 3 awards were declined by the recipients. To substantiate information in the applications, NTIA, RUS, and their contractors reviewed financial, technical, environmental, and other documents and determined the feasibility and reasonableness of each project. The agencies reviewed application materials for evidence that the applicants satisfied the criteria established in the first funding notice. The first funding notice identified several types of information that would be subject to due-diligence review, including details related to the following items: Proposed budget, capital requirements and the source of these funds, and operational sustainability. Technology strategy and construction schedule, including a map of the proposed service area and a diagram showing how technology will be deployed throughout the project area (for infrastructure projects) and a timeline demonstrating project completion. Completed environmental questionnaire and historic preservation documentation. Evidence of current subscriber and service levels in the project area to support an “unserved” or “underserved” designation. Recipient’s eligibility to receive a federal award.