September 9, 2022 – With $260 million being awarded by North Carolina to several fiber deployments, a key state official highlighted his strategy toward broadband infrastructure, community engagement, mapping and digital literacy initiatives.

Speaking on Wednesday at the Fiber Broadband Association’s Fiber for Breakfast event, Nate Denny, deputy secretary of the North Carolina Department of Information Technology’s Broadband and Digital Equity Division, said that the Tar Heel State allocated more than $1 billion from its American Rescue Plan funding for different facets of broadband deployment.

Dubbed the Growing Rural Economies with Access to Technology, $260 million of an anticipated $380 million is to be awarded, including $206 on August 31, 2022.

According to Denny, the $260 million already allocated will span 92 counties and connect more than 115,000 new homes and businesses.

Additionally, the private sector has provided $120 million in matching funds to the $260 million in public funds already spent, Denny said.

GREAT is a reimbursement program, Denny explained, and grantees have two years to complete projects under state supervision. Grantees thus far include major national companies – including AT&T and Charter – as well as small regional providers and cooperatives.

Beneficiaries of GREAT funding are expected to participate in the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program, which provides discounts on monthly internet bills and eligible device purchases to low-income households.

Denny said that North Carolina hopes to achieve 80 percent subscription to broadband services among its citizens in the next few years. Besides GREAT, the state’s American Rescue Plan–funded broadband programming includes the Stop Gap Solutions program, which provides targeted solutions such as satellite coverage to hard-to-reach locations. It also includes a broadband mapping initiative and a $50 million digital literacy effort.

In addition to current funding programs, Denny expects North Carolina to be the recipient of more than $800 million in upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program grants. He said that the state plans to funnel BEAD moneys into existing programs that have proven themselves effective.

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2022 – The director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s middle mile program on Wednesday stressed the importance of ensuring projects can withstand natural events, such as storms, to get funding from its $1 billion program.

Sarah Bleau said Wednesday on a Broadband Breakfast Live Online event that – despite the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act not mentioning climate resilience, the notice of funding opportunity for funds requires that a plan be in place for infrastructure resiliency against climate- and weather-related events.

Applications for funding are due September 30.

NTIA wants letter of credit, proof of area in need

Bleau also emphasized the need for applicants to show proof of an area to be served and to get a letter of credit, which will be requested by the agency from the bank. A letter of credit is a letter that’s addressed by a banker to a correspondent stating that the person named can draw upon the writer’s credit up to a chosen amount.

Screenshot of Sarah Bleau, NTIA Middle Mile program director

The letter of credit is intended to help the NTIA evaluate what level of risk the applicant is at. Bleau has had to address controversies surrounding the letter of credit during a virtual session on the program, saying it is “not so much protecting the money and so far as helping to determine and do a risk assessment.”

Bleau also fielded questions about extensions to apply to the program, saying there currently will be no extensions.

Among the other most-asked questions about the program, she said, include the use of matching funds to facilitate infrastructure grants. In almost all cases, applicants are required to provide a 30 percent match for grant proposals.

Our Broadband Breakfast Live Online events take place on Wednesday at 12 Noon ET. Watch the event on Broadband Breakfast, or REGISTER HERE to join the conversation.

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, 12 Noon ET – Assessing the NTIA’s Middle Mile Grant Application Process, an Event Headlined by NTIA’s Sarah Bleau

Most of the attention from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has been focused on last-mile broadband deployment. But the deadline for IIJA’s Middle Mile grant program is coming up on September 30, 2022. In this special Broadband Breakfast Live Online session, we’ll begin with a brief headline presentation by Sarah Bleau, Middle Mile Program Director at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, speaking about the $1 billion program, how the agency is handling the program, and how Middle Mile grants will impact the $42.5 billion last-mile broadband program.

Panelists:

• Sarah Bleau, Middle Mile Program Director, National Telecommunications and Information Administration
• Doug Maglothin, Executive Director, Diamond States Network
• Mark Goldstein, President of the International Research Center
• Drew Clark (moderator), Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Panelist resources:

• In ‘Office Hours’ Sessions, NTIA Addresses Questions of Middle Mile Grant Applicants, Broadband Breakfast, September 7, 2022
• NTIA announces Middle Mile ‘office hours’ to support program applications, Broadband.Money

WASHINGTON, September 7, 2022 – With the deadline for the application of Middle Mile grants three weeks away, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has held six of 12 “office hours” question and answer sessions.

Among the questions raised by prospective applicants during these sessions include the use of in-kind contributions, the role of the Federal Communications Commission’s Form 477 in demonstrating broadband availability and speeds, what role anchor institutions play in middle mile projects, and addressing concerns about the required letter of credit.

In a Broadband Breakfast Live Online webcast on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 12 Noon ET, Sarah Bleau, middle mile program director at NTIA, will headline a discussion of “Evaluating the Middle Mile Grant Application Process.”

Broadband Breakfast on September 7, 2022 – Assessing the NTIA’s Middle Mile Grant Application Process

With $1 billion in funding under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Middle Program is among the smaller broadband funding measures offered by the NTIA. But with a September 30 deadline, it is one of the first programs available for award.

Unlike NTIA programs for last-mile broadband, or for state digital equity grants, Middle Mile grants are open to individual companies and institutions that apply. NTIA will receive the applicants directly. NTIA officials have been responding to these questions during “office hours” sessions held on most Tuesdays and Thursdays. See information about the 12 “office hours” sessions.

Role of the FCC’s Form 477

During one “office hours” discussion, NTIA officials addressed how applicants may use evidence of underrepresented and unrepresented people by drawing on broadband data available through the FCC’s Form 477.

The FCC’s Form 477 has been much-criticized and is headed for a revamp. On Friday, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said that the agency is aiming for November to release the first draft of its new broadband map.

Rosenworcel, who previously said that the map is expected to emerge this fall, said in a note from the FCC that it has completed the first filing window for submitting “extensive location-by-location data” on broadband availability, after service providers were required by the agency to submit such data by September 1 – the day before the release of the note.

But because that new broadband data won’t be available until after the September 30 Middle Mile grant deadline, “office hours” panelists and presenters addressed how existing broadband data can at least provide basic information about locations and broadband speeds being provided at particular locations.

This can help applicants visualize the availability of broadband. And  speaking at one of the sessions, Alec MacDonell, telecommunications systems specialist at the FCC, highlighted the Urban Rate Survey. It is a report published annually by the FCC compiling data on the fixed voice and broadband service rates being offered to consumers in urban areas.

In addition, MacDonell and others participating in the “office hours” have said that applicants for the middle mile grant program should pay careful attention to the role that anchor institutions – typically universities, schools and libraries – play in planning for an implementing middle mile grants.

Letter of credit and no last-mile funds

During multiple “office hours” sessions over the last three weeks, Sarah Bleau, Middle Mile Program Director at NTIA, reminded attendees that this program is only for middle mile grants. Last-mile projects will not be considered and are not eligible for funds.

Addressing controversies over the required letter of credit, Bleau said that the letter is issued as a guarantee for payments. financial transactions among two separate parties, usually not taking on any risk in the process.

“It’s not so much protecting the money and so far as helping to determine and do a risk assessment,” Bleau said.