NTIA Releases IIJA Broadband NOFOs, Prioritizes Fiber

NTIA released notices of funding opportunity Friday for applicants interested in its broadband, equity, access and deployment, middle-mile grant, and state digital equity planning grant programs funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The agency cited “end-to-end fiber-optic architecture” as priority broadband projects and encouraged states to give the greatest consideration to subgrantees committed to providing 1 Gbps services at an affordable rate as part of the BEAD program.

“We are going to ensure every American will have access to technologies that allow them to attend class, start a small business, visit with their doctor, and participate in the modern economy,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “To succeed, we need a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach,” said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves.

“End-to-end fiber networks can be updated by replacing equipment attached to the ends of the fiber-optic facilities, allowing for quick and relatively inexpensive network scaling as compared to other technologies," the notice said: “Moreover, new fiber deployments will facilitate the deployment and growth of 5G and other advanced wireless services, which rely extensively on fiber for essential backhaul.” States are directed to award funding for an area to “priority” projects unless the cost exceeds the “extremely high cost per location threshold” or for “other valid reasons,” subject to NTIA approval.

The nearly $1 billion middle-mile program will award $5 million-$100 million grants to eligible entities, said the program’s NOFO. Awards will be no more than 70% of a total project’s cost except for grants to tribal governments. Applicants must commit to building middle-mile infrastructure within five years after a grant is made available and may seek up to a one-year extension if they meet certain circumstances.

Letters of intent for the BEAD program are due July 18 and all supplemental information for initial planning funds requests are due Aug. 15. NTIA said it will review submissions on a rolling basis and announce additional details about funding once the FCC’s maps are released. Applications for the middle-mile program are due by Sept. 30. NTIA said it will finish its review process by Feb. 16 and anticipates announcing awards after March 1 on a rolling basis.

NTIA also posted additional information on the State Digital Equity Planning Grant Program. Money is divided into three buckets. The largest -- the $144 billion state digital equity capacity grant program -- pays for an annual grant program for five years supporting “digital equity projects and the implementation of digital equity plans.” The $1.25 billion digital equity competitive grant program funds annual grant programs for five years to implement digital equity projects. A $60 million state digital equity planning grant program supports the development of plans.

The three programs “aim to ensure that all people and communities have the skills, technology, and capacity needed to reap the full benefits of our digital economy.” Applications are due from the states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico July 12. Letters of intent to participate are due that day from other territories and tribal governments, with the application date to be decided.

Former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said while he’s still plowing through the NOFO, it appears to ignore “the spirit of the law to be technology neutral.” O’Rielly added, “From a larger perspective, this is just another indication why Congress and private oversight is so needed to prevent the inevitable and shameful waste, fraud and abuse coming from these funds.”

Friday’s announcement is “one of the first steps in a complex but exciting opportunity to close the digital equity gap once and for all,” said Fiber Broadband Association CEO Gary Bolton. Fiber is “the fuel that powers an all-of-the above broadband strategy as wired, wireless, 5G, and satellite broadband infrastructure all depend on it," said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering: "We are glad to see NTIA mirror other agencies in their insistence that government funds not be wasted on obsolete networks of the past that simply do not have the bandwidth to power jobs and industries of tomorrow.”

The $42.5 billion BEAD program “will lay critical groundwork for widespread access, affordability, equity, and adoption of broadband,” the NOFO said. Among the program’s requirements are a match requirement of “not less than 25 percent of project costs” that can’t come from funds received through the FCC’s USF programs. The agency said locations served “exclusively by satellite, services using entirely unlicensed spectrum, or a technology not specified by the [FCC]" in its broadband maps will be considered unserved. It also set speed requirements at 100/20 Mbps and said 95% of latency measurements “must fall at or below 100 milliseconds round-trip time.” Subgrantees must satisfy the low-cost broadband offering requirement by participating in the FCC’s affordable connectivity program or “any successor program.”

Wireless Concerns

Wireless industry officials warned that NOFO favors fiber over wireless, despite what they say was Congress’ specific instruction that the program could be technologically neutral. In March, Wireless Infrastructure Association President Jonathan Adelstein warned that the White House continued to have a bias in favor of fiber (see 2203290060). Wireless officials were pleased with the focus on training programs.

“It is hard to reconcile the NOFO’s explicit preference for one broadband technology with the requirement in the law for technological neutrality,” Adelstein said Friday.

“Funding leveraged through the BEAD and the middle-mile programs, combined with other funding programs, must support ubiquitous 5G,” said Steve Berry, president of the Competitive Carriers Association. “All Americans, especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas, must have access to nationwide connectivity, which means access to both fixed and mobile services,” he said: “In areas where fiber is not possible, wireless will play a key role.”

Others said in the end wireless won’t be shut out.

“Although at first glance the NOFO appears to favor subsidies for fiber at the expense of mobile wireless contrary to Congress’ technological neutrality mandate, it also reveals future opportunities for wireless,” said Cooley’s Robert McDowell: “We are at the earliest stages of this process, and it will have many twists and turns. Practical realities, such as consumers demanding mobility as part of their broadband needs, will shape additional outcomes at the federal and state levels.”

“Fixed wireless will play a vital role in bridging the digital divide, as demonstrated by the accelerated nationwide deployment of 5G and the rapidly increasing market share of wireless home broadband,” emailed CTIA President Meredith Baker: “We look forward to working with the states as they seek to bring the unique capabilities of wireless to the nation.”

Reactions

House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., and Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle, D-Pa.,hailed NTIA’s plans. “We are especially pleased that the Internet for All program promotes strong labor standards and reflects the priorities that we and other Democratic Committee members advocated for earlier this year” (see 2204130049), Pallone and Doyle said. They had sought an emphasis on “affordability, digital inclusion, high-capacity networks, competition, and community engagement” (see 2204260043). “NTIA’s announcement prioritizes affordability, future-proof networks, digital inclusion, and competition, all while bringing local communities together around these transformational broadband projects,” Pallone and Doyle said. House Commerce GOP leaders urged NTIA last month not to make rules that mirrored Democrats’ proposals (see 2204260043).

AT&T is "fully committed to continuing our work with [NTIA] so all Americans have access to high-speed internet services," said Joan Marsh, executive vice president-federal regulatory relations. Verizon "look[s] forward to carefully reviewing the [NOFO] and to working with the states and NTIA as many important details continue to be addressed to ensure every American has access to high speed affordable broadband," said Kathy Grillo, senior vice president-policy and government affairs.

“WISPA is encouraged that the NOFO provides States with the maximum latitude to meet the unique needs and challenges they face in delivering broadband services,” said Todd Harpest, Wireless ISP Association chairman. “This means State broadband officials can select the right tool for the right job, minimizing delay and optimizing the use of limited taxpayer dollars,” he said.

McDowell said the spending on workforce training is “a terrific surprise.” Adelstein said “WIA strongly supports the support for workforce development and apprenticeship in the NOFO.”

ACA Connects “appreciate[s] that [the notices] incorporate ideas that we discussed with NTIA in the last few months,” said President-CEO Matthew Polka. NTIA made a “Herculean effort” to stand up the programs, said Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Executive Director Adrianne Furniss, adding “we must seize upon our broadband moment." NCTA said it “look[s] forward to reviewing the notices and continuing to engage with policymakers as plans are developed.”

The announcement is a “significant milestone in implementing Congress’ $65 billion investment in broadband,” said NATOA President Michael Russo: “These federal grant programs provide significant new resources that have the potential to change the lives of millions of Americans.” The Biden administration “worked very hard to produce this initial guidance to bring internet for all in America and we appreciate their efforts,” said USTelecom President-CEO Jonathan Spalter.

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and House Commerce ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., raised concerns Thursday night about Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s testimony to the Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee that NTIA would consider an area “as unserved until” it’s “actually served” (see 2205110073). “Not only would this approach undermine the success of this program, it would ignore congressional intent” in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, “waste taxpayer dollars, complicate already-strained broadband supply chains and workforce shortages, and leave rural America further behind,” the GOP leaders wrote Raimondo. “Moreover, it could cause NTIA to misallocate money among the states, given that the IIJA requires NTIA to distribute funding based on the number of unserved locations in a state.”