NATOA Files Comments with NTIA and RUS on Next Round of Stimulus Broadband Funding
Yesterday, NATOA, along
with a number of other local government and non-profit groups filed comments
with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and
the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) on the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP)
and the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).
These programs were
initiated by NTIA and RUS under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 and were charged with distributing $7.2 billion to “expand access to
broadband services.” In July, NTIA and RUS issued a Notice of Funds
Availability (NOFA) that initiated a first round of funding. Awards for
this first round are still pending.
Earlier this month,
NTIA/RUS released a Request for Information (RFI) asking for comments on
proposed changes to the NOFA that will be used for the second round of
funding. The comments filed by NATOA and others addressed needed chances
to the application process that were proposed by NTIA/RUS and also addressed
some that were not discussed in the RFI.
NATOA encouraged that the
agencies make the process more transparent and streamlined. NATOA also
recommended changes to the application process such so that local government
and non-profit applicants will have the ability to participate on equal footing
with private entities. NATOA also recommended that the agencies focus at
least a portion of the funding on Anchor Institution Networks and also think
about regional broadband development projects.
NATOA was joined in these
comments by the United States Conference of Mayors, the Benton Foundation, and
the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Initiative.
The full text of NATOA’s
comments is available here.