WASHINGTON – Federal officials last week announced that they would begin accepting applications for more than half the $7.2 billion Congress set aside earlier this year to expand broadband Internet access in the United States.
The money – which will be divided up between two new programs – was included as part of the $787 billion economic stimulus package that President Barack Obama signed in February. Congress directed that the money be used to expand access in “unserved” and “underserved” areas, Bloomberg News reported.
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The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) will award $4.7 billion through its newly-created Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service will distribute $2.5 billion via its new Broadband Initiatives Program.
The funding will be released in three rounds, with the first awards to be announced in November and all three completed by September 2010. Businesses, nonprofits, and state and local government are all eligible to apply for funding.
Officials said last week that up to $1.4 billion through the Commerce Department and up to $2.4 billion through the Agriculture Department would be made available during the first round of funding.
The legislation also directed the NTIA to make every effort to award at least one grant to each state over the course of its program’s three funding rounds. The governor’s office of each state will be asked to provide input into how the money should be spent in their jurisdiction, official documents said.
Vice President Joe Biden described the programs as “a first step toward realizing President Obama’s vision of a nationwide 21st century communications infrastructure.”
The program includes a stipulation that requires telecommunications companies that take the money to allow “neutral traffic routing,” meaning they cannot discriminate against different types of content, a controversial approach that has been much debated in recent years.
Some major companies, including Verizon and AT&T, have not said yet whether they will take part in the programs.
Complete information on the two programs and their parameters was published on July 1 in the Federal Register and a 121-page PDF document available online.
Additional information on the stimulus legislation’s broadband appropriations is available at BroadbandUSA.gov.
