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PCCA Journal|1
st
Quarter 2010
30
News Briefs
Continued from page 29
North Dakota
Burleigh County, BEK Communications Cooperative,
•
$1,986,473 grant and $2,016,571 loan, $2,016,572
in leveraged funds. The funding will provide fiber-
to-the-premises broadband service to underserved
homes and anchor institutions. This will aid busi-
ness growth and support public safety in rural areas
highly dependent on internet business income.
Traill County, Halstad Telephone Company,
•
$2,027,600 grant and $2,027,600 loan, $10,000 in
leveraged funds. The funding will provide fiber-to-the
premises broadband service to unserved homes and
businesses in Traill County.
Oregon
Marion County, Gervais Telephone Company, $314,430
•
grant and $314,430 loan. This project extends Gervais
Telephone Company’s existing fiber network by build-
ing out from the nearest fiber splice point through the
funded service area. This project will provide broad-
band connectivity to residential and business end
users, as well as to four anchor institutions.
Virginia
Alleghany County, NTELOS Telephone Inc.,
•
$8,062,088 grant and $8,062,088 loan. The funds will
provide broadband infrastructure to unserved and
underserved homes, businesses, and critical com-
munity institutions in this rural county. A fiber-based
project, it will enable work-from-home jobs and
foster economic development and improve health,
education, and public safety services.
Commerce Department
Awards Broadband Funds
T
he Department of Com-
merce’s National Telecom-
munications and Infor-
mation Administration
(NTIA) recently announced
grants totaling $63 million
to expand broadband access and
adoption in Massachusetts, Michi-
gan, and North Carolina. Funded
by the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, NTIA’s Broad-
band Technology Opportunities
Program (BTOP) provides grants to
support the deployment of broad-
band infrastructure in unserved and
underserved areas, enhance and
expand public computer centers,
and encourage sustainable adop-
tion of broadband service. These
investments will help bridge the
technological divide, boost economic
growth and create jobs, NTIA said.
“High-speed internet access is
the lifeblood of today’s economy,”
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
said. “Having access to the internet’s
economic, health, and educational
benefits should be as much of a
fundamental American right as at-
tending a quality school. Our best
minds should be able to talk to one
another, create and innovate regard-
less of where they come from. These
grants are an important step toward
expanding high-speed internet ac-
cess into the unserved and under-
served areas of the country.”
NTIA received nearly 1,800 appli-
cations during the first BTOP fund-
ing round and is currently awarding
grants on a rolling basis. NTIA has
awarded 15 grants totaling ap-
proximately $200 million under the
program.
BTOP grants fall into one of three
categories. Infrastructure grants
build and improve connections
to communities lacking sufficient
broadband access. Public computer
center grants expand computer
center capacity for public use in
libraries, community colleges, and
other public venues. Sustainable
broadband adoption grants fund in-
novative projects to increase broad-
band subscription levels in areas or
among population groups where the
technology has traditionally been
underutilized.
The following grants were an-
nounced:
Massachusetts, University of
•
Massachusetts-Lowell:
$780,000
broadband adoption grant with an
additional $196,000 in applicant-
provided matching funds to pro-
mote broadband awareness and
computer literacy among vulner-
able populations.
Michigan, Merit Network, Inc.:
•
$33.3 million infrastructure grant
with an additional $8.3 million in
matching funds to build a 955-
mile advanced fiber-optic network
through 32 counties in Michigan’s
Lower Peninsula. The project also
intends to directly connect 44
community anchor institutions
and will serve an area cover-
ing 886,000 households, 45,800
businesses, and an additional 378
anchor institutions.
Michigan, Michigan State Uni-
•
versity:
$895,000 public computer
center grant with an additional
$235,000 in matching funds to ex-
pand 84 existing library computer
News Briefs continued on page 32