RUS Announces Final First Round Broadband Stimulus Award

The Rural Utilities Service announced its final Broadband Initiatives Program award Tuesday for the first funding round, the day after second round applications were due. NTIA has yet to finish making first round grant announcements, though the final deadline for second round Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program applications was Friday.

Applications filed “under the second and final round are under review and will be announced before the end of the 2010 fiscal year,” the Agriculture Department said Tuesday. The federal FY10 ends Sept. 30. RUS extended Monday’s filing deadline for five hours until 10 p.m. “NTIA has thus far announced 71 BTOP grants totaling more than $1 billion,” an NTIA spokeswoman said. “We do expect to announce some additional grants from the first round.” NTIA made its latest award announcement last week.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the selection of the Reservation Telephone Cooperative infrastructure broadband project, which will get a $10.95 million loan and a $10.95 million grant. “The project will bring broadband service to homes, businesses, schools and libraries,” the department said. “In addition, service will be provided to tribal government facilities which provide tribal child support, education assistance, employment assistance, health care and public safety services on the reservation.” The area covered has experienced poverty rates as high as 28 percent and a 40 percent unemployment rate, the department said.

In the first round, RUS announced $1.067 billion in grants and loans covering 68 broadband projects. “Together, the projects will make high speed Internet available to an estimated 529,000 households and 96,000 rural business and public facilities across 31 states, one territory and 17 tribal lands and predominantly Alaska Native regions,” Agriculture said. “The Recovery Act broadband projects announced by USDA will open up educational, job and business opportunities to hundreds of thousands of Americans living in rural areas,” said Vilsack.