Incumbents Invited to the Table

The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) and Rural Utilities Service (RUS) have embarked upon a 30-day period of accepting responses from existing service providers in their reviews of service area classifications, which will includes defining the unserved and the underserved areas for the BIP/BTOP infrastructure applications. The Public Notices can be viewed at: http://broadbandsearch.sc.egov.usda.gov/DefaultARRA.aspx.

The Public Notices were published Monday and the response deadline is October 28. Interested parties can view responses to the Public Notices by searching the BroadbandUSA database, based on company name or project location, at: http://broadbandsearch.sc.egov.usda.gov/LegalNoticeFiling/List.Aspx?program=ARRA.

According to the web site, existing broadband service providers who respond to Public Notices with multiple proposals will need to file separate responses for each individual service area. This is in order for their existing services to be considered when determining eligibility for funding in the BIP and BTOP Infrastructure applications. All information submitted by existing service providers will be treated as proprietary and confidential to the extent permitted under applicable law.