Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Broadband Stimulus Outreach

1
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Broadband Stimulus
Outreach American Recovery Reinvestment Act
of 2009
2
Stimulus Bill Legislation

• General broadband provisions
• 2.5 billion for Rural Utilities Service (RUS)
• 4.7 billion for National Telecommunications and
  Information Administration (NTIA)

3
Rural Utilities Service

• 2.5 billion for grants, loans and loan
  guarantees
• Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband
  Program
• Funding available for areas where at least 75 of
  service area shall be a rural area without
  sufficient access to high-speed broadband
• Priority given to projects that
• Give end users a choice
• Provide service to the highest proportion of
  unserved rural residents
• Are proposed by borrowers or former borrowers
  under Title II of the Rural Electrification Act
• Demonstrate that all project elements will be
  fully funded
• Can commence promptly and be completed within the
  two-year timeframe

4
NTIA

• 4.7 billion total
• 350 million for broadband mapping
• Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP)
• 4.35 billion
• 200 millionexpanding public computer center
  capacity
• 250 millioninnovative programs to encourage
  sustainable adoption of broadband service
• Broadband access for users in unserved and
  underserved areas
• Broadband support for education
• Broadband use by public safety agencies
• Economic growth and job creation

5
NTIA Program

• BTOP Program Plan released by NTIA on May 15,
  2009
• Program measures will include
• Job Creation the and type of jobs created
  directly due to funding
• Expanded broadband access of areas where
  service made available or improved, homes and
  businesses passed by reported coverage at census
  block level, speed and price of service
• Private sector investment amounts and types of
  private investment leveraged
• High Speed Access to strategic institutions
  new equipment and capacity including new or
  forecasted users of new infrastructure
• Encourage Broadband Demand of new subscribers
  generated from demand-side projects

6
NTIA Program

• Schedules Milestones published by NTIA
• June 2009 - Award Contract for Grants Program
  Support
• AprilJune 2009 - Preparation for Initial
  Solicitation for Proposals
• June 2009 - Publish Notice of Funds Availability
• Sept-Dec 2009 - Initial Proposal Processing and
  Review
• Dec 2009 - Initial Grant Awards Made
• Oct-Dec 2009 - Second Solicitation for Proposals
• April-June 2010 - Third Solicitation for
  Proposals
• Sept 2010 - All Awards to Be Made

7
NTIA Program

• All awards by September 30, 2010
• Projects completed within two years of an award
• Openness and transparency, including regular
  reporting
• State role
• Consultation with NTIA
• Identification of unserved and underserved
• Beyond thatunclear at this time

8
Some Guiding Principles

• Concentration on unserved areas of Commonwealth
• Enhanced broadband to those designated as
  underserved
• Remaining technology-neutral
• Encouraging broadband connectivity through
  multiple providers
• Encouraging local and public-private partnerships
  
• Using Commonwealth resources where possible to
  assist our goals
• Supporting where possible, public safety,
  education, health, energy and commercial-grade
  broadband
• Identifying policy and programmatic changes in
  state programs that could help accelerate
  deployment

9
Pennsylvania Chapter 30

• Chapter 30 enacted in 1993 to achieve early
  deployment of broadband in Pennsylvania
• Authorized several programs that will
  substantially increase the investment in
  Commonwealth telecommunications infrastructure,
  including
• Establishing a deployment timetable for ILECs
  monitored and enforced by the Pennsylvania PUC
• Creating an outreach and aggregation funding
  mechanism (BOAF)
• Special program with mandated deployment upon
  achieving agreed-upon threshold of committed
  customers (BFRR)
• Requiring a statewide inventory and mapping of
  availability of telecommunications services
• Creating broadband networks between, among, and
  within school entities (E-Fund)

10
Commonwealth Outreach

• How you think the grant program should be
  administered?
• How would broadband availability change your
  community? Tell us about some immediate benefits
  or positive impacts?
• What speeds do you consider to be a good
  definition of broadband?
• What do you consider to be affordable broadband
  service?
• What barriers do you see to this project? What
  attempts have you previously made to obtain
  access, and what challenges or obstacles have you
  encountered?
• What do you think the Commonwealths role should
  be with this project?
• What should the definitions of unserved and
  underserved areas be?
• Do you have shovel ready (ready-to-go) projects
  that you can present?

11

• Questions or Comments?
• Please email them to
• ra-OA-Stimulus_at_state.pa.us