PCCA Journal 4th Quarter 2013 - page 29

PCCA Journal|4
th
Quarter 2013
29
Grants Awarded to Help States Plan FirstNet
L
ess than eight months after
launching the effort, the
U.S. Commerce Depart-
ment’s National Telecom-
munications and Informa-
tion Administration (NTIA) announced
in September that 54 states and territo-
ries have been awarded $116 million in
grants in fiscal year 2013 to help them
plan for the national public safety broad-
band network to be built by the First
Responder Network Authority (FirstNet),
an independent authority within NTIA.
The grants were awarded through
NTIA’s State and Local Implementation
Grant Program (SLIGP), which supports
states and territories with their planning,
consulting, and outreach activities as
they work with FirstNet on deployment
of the network.
“With these grants, states and ter-
ritories can now start planning for a
state-of-the-art broadband network that
will give them modern tools to respond
to 21st century emergencies,” said NTIA
Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling.
“These grants empower recipients to
build inclusive, strategic partnerships
that will provide comprehensive plan-
ning for the national broadband public
safety network.”
NTIA made the first SLIGP grant
awards in July and recently awarded
grants to nine additional states and
territories, bringing the total number of
grants awarded to 54. The latest awards
include:
• Alabama - $2 million
• American Samoa - $502,930
• Illinois - $4 million
• Maine - $1 million
• Michigan - $3.3 million
• New Hampshire - $879,887
• Oklahoma - $1.9 million
• Rhode Island - $755,863
• Wisconsin - $2.2 million
States are required to provide a match-
ing contribution of at least 20 percent. A
complete list of states that have received
grants, along with a point of contact for
each state, can be found at NTIA’s web-
site,
The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job
Creation Act of 2012 authorized the
creation of the first nationwide broad-
band network for public safety. The law
also directed NTIA to develop a grant
program for states to support planning,
education, and outreach as they consult
with FirstNet on the deployment of the
broadband network, which will enable
first responders to better communicate
during emergencies and save lives.
Study Says USF Changes
Undercutting Rural Broadband Investment
T
he approach developed by
the Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC)
to implement caps on
Universal Service Fund
(USF) support for small telecommunica-
tions providers has the effect of chilling
investment in broadband infrastructure
in some of the country’s most remote
communities, according to a study
recently released by former FCC Chief
Economist Simon Wilkie.
The study was commissioned by
NTCA—The Rural Broadband Asso-
ciation (NTCA), United States Telecom
Association (USTelecom), and Western
Telecommunications Alliance (WTA) to
review the approach being used to limit
the support that certain rural telecom-
munications providers receive under
the USF’s high-cost program. Wilkie, a
professor of economics at the University
of Southern California who served as
FCC chief economist from 2002 to 2003,
analyzed seven years of cost data to
identify the effects of the model on pre-
dictability of USF support and incentives
for responsible and efficient broadband
deployment.
Among the study’s key findings are:
• Uncertainty—specifically in the fear
that network deployment efforts will
result in tripping the limits on sup-
port—has dampened rural carriers’
investment in the broadband infra-
structure needed to connect unserved
rural Americans and enhance existing
service. 

• A prolonged period of uncertainty and
efforts to “game the system” by delay-
ing or deferring much-needed invest-
ments merely to attempt to stay below
the limits could very well induce a
“race to the bottom” as the bench-
marks continue to decline over time
Telecom News continued on page 30
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