PROVIDENCE – The U.S. Commerce Department on Tuesday awarded Rhode Island $1.54 million in federal stimulus money to create a map of broadband availability in the state and put together a plan to broaden access.
The grant will go to the R.I. Economic Development Corporation. The agency will spend about $1 million to collect and verify the availability, speed and location of broadband across the state on a semiannual basis over the next two years. The remaining roughly $500,000 will pay for five years of broadband planning activities.
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The money was awarded by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). All 50 states are set to receive similar grants. The Massachusetts Broadband Institute got $2 million last month to do that state’s broadband research.
The EDC submitted its application to the NTIA in August and accepted applications in September and October from contractors to carry out the mapping project. Stuart Freiman, the EDC’s business development manager for IT and digital media, said the agency got proposals from 11 contractors.
“In order to meet a very aggressive project deadline instituted by the NTIA, we decided to move ahead … to hire a contractor for the project in anticipation of the grant approval,” Freiman said in an e-mail.
The data collected by the Rhode Island Broadband Mapping Program will be compiled with information from other states to create a national broadband map that the NTIA plans to publish by February 2011.
The interactive online map will show broadband availability, speeds and technology, as well as whether it is accessible at community institutions such as hospitals, schools and libraries. It will also be searchable by address and show providers that offer service on the neighborhood level.
No data on Rhode Island’s broadband infrastructure is currently available publicly, according to the EDC.
“Congress rightly recognized that increasing broadband access and adoption in communities being left behind in the 21st Century economy depends on better data collection and broadband planning,” Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said in a statement. “Our goal is to carry out this initiative on schedule and at the lowest cost necessary to do the job right.”
Additional information is available at ntia.doc.gov and riedc.com.
