The National Telecommunications and Information Agency on April 26 announced what it said would be its final awards in Round 1 of the broadband stimulus program. With this announcement, funding for round one of the broadband stimulus program is officially closed.
The nine new grants bring the total value of awards made by the NTIA in Round 1 to $1.2 billion. Considering that the NTIA was charged with awarding a total of $4.7 billion in two funding rounds, that leaves more than half for the second round. Combine that with the fact that there were fewer applicants in Round 2 and it should make an individual applicant’s odds of winning something considerably better in the second round, which had a filing deadline in late March.
Award winners included:
- One Economy Corporation, $28.5 million for a sustainable broadband adoption program in 31 states
- DigitalBridge Communications, three separate awards totaling $4.3 million for wireless broadband infrastructure in Idaho
- The City of Williamstown, Ky., $535,000 for a fiber-to-the-home network
- Pine Telephone Company, $9.5 million for broadband wireless infrastructure in Oklahoma
- Critical Hub Networks, $25.8 million for an undersea cable and middle-mile microwave network in Puerto Rico
- Buggs Island Telephone Cooperative, $19 million for broadband wireless infrastructure in Virginia
- Public Utility District of Pend Oreille County, $27.2 million for a fiber-to-the-premises network in the state of Washington
The Rural Utilities Service, which has responsibility for awarding an additional $2.5 billion in broadband stimulus funding, issued its final Round 1 awards at the end of March.
The RUS also received fewer applications in Round 2 and has slightly more than half of its total award money still available.
http://www.stimulatetelecom.us