A little more than a month after the grant application period
opened, the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration recently announced having made grant awards of
$3.5 million across seven trial entities nation-wide for the
Internet For All initiative’s
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program. The Awardees are
located in New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington.
Let’s get funding to California!
As
previously reported by CSAC in early August, the application
period for the second installment of grant funding for the Tribal
Broadband Connectivity Program is accepting applications through
late January 2024. This second round of funding includes
approximately $980 million available for Native American, Alaska
Native and Native Hawaiian lands for deployment of Internet
infrastructure, affordability programs, telehealth and distance
learning initiatives.
Background
The Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program is a $3 billion program
established via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the
Consolidated Appropriations Act to support Tribal governments
bringing high-speed Internet to Tribal lands, including
telehealth, distance learning, affordability, and digital
inclusion initiatives. The program is part of the Biden
Administration’s Internet For All
Initiative, which provides $48 billion for a variety of
programs across the nation to connect more people to reliable
high-speed internet. The first round of grant awards for the
Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program included
$162 million awarded to California for 34 tribal governments.
Application Window
The application window opened on Thursday, July 27, 2023, and
will close at 8:59 PM (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, January 23,
2024. Tribes that did not receive funding under the first round
of grant awards will be given priority for funding under the
second round of grant award determinations.
How to Apply
There are three avenues to submit complete application packages;
1) electronically via
grants.gov, 2) via email at broadbandusa@ntia.gov, and 3)
via postal mail to the following address:
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
U.S. Department of Commerce
Attn: Douglas Kinkoph, Associate Administrator
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 4887
Washington, DC 20230
The program’s
fact sheet includes information regarding application
evaluation, scoring criteria, and post-award reporting
requirements.
