The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the United States Department of Commerce, is introducing a set of dashboards that aim to ensure the money pouring into the broadband industry is being spent wisely, honestly, and on time.
The goals of the NTIA dashboards are to keep construction and implementation on schedule; minimize waste, fraud, and abuse; and ensure reporting requirements are being met.
The first NTIA dashboard will support the Enabling Middle Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program. A blog post introducing the dashboard describes the Middle Mile program as a “force multiplier” for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.
The first project in the middle mile program broke ground in June in Reno, Nevada. Steps related to network design, the environmental review, permit approvals, and equipment purchases have already been taken. Updates, which are required twice per year, will be tracked by the NTIA Middle Mile Tracking Dashboard.
The NTIA dashboards will also provide information to ISPs interested in linking end users to the middle mile infrastructure.
“Careful monitoring and oversight of grantees is key for ensuring timely execution of funded projects and minimizing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse,” Sarah Bleau, the director of the NTIA’s Middle Mile Program, wrote in the blog post about the NTIA dashboards. “NTIA has built regular reporting requirements into its grant programs, and these new dashboards will give the public increased transparency into those reports.”
The Middle Mile program made $50 million in awards to a total of four organizations in New Hampshire, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wyoming last September. At that point, the program had made awards to 36 organizations in 40 states and territories.
In late June, Zayo said it would construct more than 800 miles with the backing of the Middle Mile program and the Office of Science, Innovation, and Technology.
