NTIA/RUS announce streamlining of broadband stimulus program | Telecompetitor

WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2009 – The USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) and the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced they are streamlining the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s broadband grant and loan programs by awarding the remaining funding in just one more round, instead of two rounds, to increase efficiency and better accommodate applicants.

RUS’s Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and NTIA’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) are intended to expand broadband access and adoption in America, advancing the goals of the Recovery Act by creating jobs and stimulating long-term economic growth and opportunity. The first round of these grant and loan programs produced about 2,200 applications requesting nearly $28 billion in funding – almost seven times the amount of funding available in that round – for proposed broadband projects reaching all 50 U.S. states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia. The agencies are currently reviewing these applications and expect to award up to $4 billion in loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations in this round. The agencies expect to begin announcing funding awards in December 2009...