Sneak Preview: Comments Requested on New Broadband Programs

(The following was excerpted from a recent Federal Grants Compliance Expert article.) The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is seeking public comment on how to effectively administer funds under various grant programs established under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58).

The act provided $65 billion to help close the digital divide and ensure that all Americans have access to reliable, affordable, high-speed broadband. Of that, NTIA’s Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth will distribute $48 billion through several grant programs, including the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the Middle-Mile Broadband Infrastructure Program, the Digital Equity Planning Grant Program, the State Digital Equity Capacity Grant Program and the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program. A recent notice in the Jan. 10 Federal Register sought comments related to NTIA’s administration of the first three of these programs. Comments can be sent via Regulations.gov to Docket No. NTIA-2021-0002.

“This notice seeks public comment to bolster NTIA’s work and to improve the number and quality of ideas under consideration as the agency develops notices of funding opportunity (NOFOs) for each of the broadband grant programs to be implemented by NTIA” under the law, the notice states. “NTIA welcomes input on any matter that commenters believe is important to NTIA’s [IIJA] implementation efforts.”

NTIA seeks comments on overall topics such as: (1) steps NTIA can take to ensure that the IIJA’s broadband programs meet their goals with respect to access, adoption, affordability, digital equity and digital inclusion; (2) the types of data NTIA should require recipients to collect and maintain to facilitate assessment of the programs’ impact, evaluate targets and promote accountability; and (3) ways that NTIA can ensure that grant recipients are using funds to complement other federal and state programs.

(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)

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