BTOP-process under review
Hm. Things may be pretty lively back at the BTOP mother-ship. "The Commerce Department's Inspector General (IG) is conducting a review of its handling of the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) portion of the economic stimulus package, according to the IG's office."
Click HERE to read the article.
Could someone clarify for me something in the NOFA:
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The NOFA defines for BIP projects:
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 Non-Remote 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.
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From the statement above there are no funds for GRANT-ONLY applications in areas that are non-remote. If this is the case we see in the database some applications that would be disqualified.
Like:
Project Titles
- PREPA LAST MILE BROADBAND INITIATIVE
- Connecting Rural California: Mobile Broadband for Health, Safety and Economic Development
- Santa Cruz County/Pima County,So Arizona Rural Broadband Expansion Project
- Coalfield Broadband Services
- St. Croix Services - WiMAX Deployment Project
- Mid-Wisconsin DBS WiMAX Deploymen
- Telephone Service Company (TSC)
- XIT Rural Telephone Cooperative - FTTP & VDSL2 Combination Application
- Henry County REMC
- Meriden and Archer Fiber To the Home Project
- Connecting Rural Kansas: Mobile Broadband for Health, Safety and Economic Development
- Connecting Rural Missouri: Mobile Broadband for Health, Safety and Economic Development
- Connecting Rural Nebraska: Mobile Broadband for Health, Safety and Economic Development
- Horizon Telcom's Upgrade of the Network in Scioto County to Enable Broadband Delivery
- Horizon Telcom's Network Expansion in Scioto County to Unserved Areas
- High-Speed Internet Service Expansion
- Granite Broadband Project Fond du Lac County
Does anyone know to whom in in RUS I could send this discrepancies.
I think that's one of the things we will be sorting out. Who is and who isn't eligible for the funds that they have applied for.
On the matter of grants under BIP -- the only grants are for LAST MILE REMOTE (400M worth). It is clearly outlined in the NOFA. Last Mile non-remote and any middle mile applications must include loans either as a sole request or in combination with grants. In loan/grant combinations the grant cannot exceed 50% of the total request.
On the other hand -- if you are in a rural area (75% rule) and you are seeking a BTOP grant, then you must submit to BIP first. So some applications -- intended for BTOP grants -- appear to be grant requests to BIP. They're not. They just have to be rejected by BIP first (so, if you ask for a LM non-remote grant, you will get rejected by BIP). Of course, those applications must state their intention and complete the BTOP portion (and of course, have 20% matching funds to their grant request).
In my review of the application summaries, I have been somewhat taken aback by the idea that people spent many hours creating an application and little time reading the NOFA.