Organizations whose requests for broadband stimulus funds were rejected in the first round have begun to receive notification of those rejections—and judging by early news reports it appears government agencies should be prepared for another barrage of applications in the second round.
Among rejected applications that have come to light in local news reports are a request from the University of New Hampshire for $46 million for a broadband buildout and from the Massachusetts Broadband Institute for $100 million to bring broadband to a large area of western Massachusetts. Both organizations say they plan to apply again in the second round.
They’ll have to hurry. Rejected applicants will have about six weeks to get their new applications together to meet a March 15 filing deadline. New guidelines for the second funding round were issued just two weeks ago.
According to the local news reports, the New Hampshire and Massachusetts rejection notices came from the National Telecommunications and Infrastructure Association (NTIA). Earlier this week, the Rural Utilities Service administrator said that the agency also would be sending out rejection notices “within the next week.”
In the first funding round, the RUS and NTIA, which are jointly administering the broadband stimulus program, received 2200 applications totaling $28 million and vying for just $4 billion in funding. Awards announced to date have skewed toward rural telephone companies and to projects involving just a single state. There also has been a strong emphasis on public and community connectivity, such as infrastructure projects that connect safety and anchor agencies.
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