Broadband Initiatives Program

 

The purpose of the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) to make loans and grants for the purpose of facilitating broadband deployment in rural areas.

Deleted 01/15/2013 (Archived.) 10.787 Agency: Department of Agriculture
Office: Rural Utilities Service Direct Loans; Project Grants (Discretionary) Not Applicable. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115, 7 U.S.C 901. All funds for BIP will be awarded no later than September 30, 2010.

Applicants must conform to the eligibility criteria published in the NOFAs. Residents of eligible rural communities and others who may receive service as a result of service provided to a rural area. Applicants must certify that the organization is in compliance, or will comply, with the Department of Agriculture assurances included in the standard application. Applicants must also provide assurances that they will substantially complete funded projects in accordance with project timelines. BIP applicants must commit to the following Nondiscrimination and
Interconnection Obligations: i. Adhere to the principles contained in the FCCâ₏™s Internet Policy Statement (FCC 05â₏“151, adopted August 5, 2005); ii. not favor any lawful Internet applications and content over others; iii. display any network management policies in a
prominent location on the service providerâ₏™s web page and provide notice to customers of changes to these policies (awardees must describe any business practices or technical mechanisms they employ, other than standard best efforts Internet delivery, to allocate capacity; differentiate among applications, providers, or sources; limit usage; and manage illegal or harmful content); iv. connect to the public Internet directly or indirectly, such that the project is not an entirely private closed network; and v. offer interconnection, where technically feasible without exceeding current or reasonably anticipated capacity limitations, on reasonable rates and terms to be negotiated with requesting parties. This includes both the ability to connect to the public Internet and physical interconnection for the exchange of traffic. Applicants must disclose their proposed interconnection, nondiscrimination, and network management practices with the application. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program. OMB Circular No. A-87 applies to this program. Applications are scored against objective criteria outlined in BIP NOFAs published in the Federal Register. The application window is closed. All funds for BIP will be awarded no later than September 30, 2010. An environmental impact statement is required for this program. This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review. OMB Circular No. A-102 applies to this program. OMB Circular No. A-110 applies to this program. Applications are reviewed on the basis of funding criteria as established in the Notice of Funding Availability. May 01, 2009 to Sep 30, 2010 The application window is closed. All funds for BIP will be awarded no later than September 30, 2010. From 90 to 120 days. All awards under BIP must be made no later than September 30, 2010. All award decisions are final. There is no administrative appeal process. Not Applicable. In determining whether to approve an application, in whole or in part, and the amount of the loan, loan/grant combination or grant, RUS will consider the project's conformance with the program purposes and funding criteria set forth in the legislation and the Notice of Funding Availability. Under BIP, RUS awards grants, loans, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in unserved and underserved rural areas. Additionally, the Recovery Act mandates that priority be given to projects which: (1) give end users a choice of providers; (2) serve the highest proportion of rural residents that lack access to broadband service; (3) are projects of current or former RUS borrowers (Title II borrowers); and (4) are fully funded and ready to start once Recovery Act funding is received. BIP application scoring criteria rewards projects that implement these priorities.

On July 9, 2009, RUS and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) published a joint Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) in the Federal Register. On January 22, 2010, RUS published a NOFA for a second round of funding. This funding announcement focused on last mile projects, and middle mile projects generally involving current RUS program participants. The Second Round NOFA also announced the opening of a future window for specific grants for Satellite, Rural Library Broadband, and Technical Assistance. A Request for Proposals (RFP) outlining the requirements for applications for Satellite, Rural Library Broadband, and Technical Assistance Projects was published in the Federal Register on from May 7, 2010. The following terms shall apply to the loans, as well as other terms that are specified in the loan documents:
i. Interest rate. Loans shall bear interest at a rate equal to the cost of borrowing to the Department of Treasury for obligations of comparable maturity. The applicable interest rate
will be set at the time of each advance.

ii. Repayment period. Unless the applicant requests a shorter repayment period, broadband loans must be repaid with interest within a period that, rounded to the nearest whole year, is
equal to the expected Composite Economic Life of the assets to be financed, as determined by RUS based upon acceptable depreciation rates.

iii. Amortization period. Interest begins accruing on the date of each loan advance and interest payments are due monthly. Upon completion of the buildout, or a date certain that is determined at closing, whichever occurs first, monthly principal payments will be established in an amount that amortizes the outstanding balance over the remaining term of the loan.

iv. Fidelity bonding. Applicants must agree to obtain a fidelity bond for 15 percent of the loan amount. The fidelity bond must be obtained as a condition of loan closing. RUS may reduce the percentage required if it determines that 15 percent is not commensurate with the risk involved.

v. Security. The loan portion of the award must be adequately secured, as determined by RUS. No program reports are required. No cash reports are required. Financial and progress reports are to be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of the award, and are due on a quarterly basis. RUS may establish additional reporting and information requirements for any recipient of an award. No cash reports are required. As required by Section 1512 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) and OMB guidance, each recipient is required to report the following information to RUS ten days after the end of each calendar quarter. As prescribed by the Recovery Act, these reports will include:
1. The total amount of recovery funds received from RUS.
2. The amount of recovery funds received that were obligated and expended to projects or activities. This reporting will also include unobligated allotment balances to facilitate reconciliations.
3. A detailed list of all projects or activities for which Recovery Act funds were obligated and expended, includingâ₏”
a. The name of the project or activity;
b. A description of the project or activity;
c. An evaluation of the completion status of the project or activity;
d. An estimate of the number of jobs created and the number of jobs retained by the project or activity; and
e. For infrastructure investments made by State and local governments, the purpose, total cost, and rationale of the agency for funding the infrastructure investment with funds made available under this Act, and name the person to contact at the agency if there are concerns with the infrastructure investment. No cash reports are required. No expenditure reports are required. No performance monitoring is required. In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133 (Revised, June 27, 2003), "Audits of States, Local Governments, and Non-Profit Organizations," nonfederal entities that expend financial assistance of $500,000 or more in Federal awards will have a single or a program-specific audit conducted for that year. Nonfederal entities that expend less than $500,000 a year in Federal awards are exempt from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in Circular No. A-133. All financial and programmatic records, supporting documents, statistical reports and other records of recipients or subrecipients must be maintained in accordance with the terms of the award. Generally, the recipient must retain records for three years from the date on which the final expenditure report is submitted or the Loan is Paid in Full. This program has no statutory formula.
This program has no matching requirements.
MOE requirements are not applicable to this program. While the completion time will vary depending on the complexity of the project, award recipients must substantially complete projects supported by this program no later than two years, and projects must be fully completed no later than three years, following the date of issuance of the award. See the following for information on how assistance is awarded/released: Financial assistance is generally released as required during the award. None. Assistant Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Stop 1599, Washington, District of Columbia 20250 Email: bip@wdc.usda.gov Phone: (202) 690-0525. http://www.broadbandusa.gov 12-1232-0-1-452. (Direct Loans) FY 09 $0; FY 10 $1,201,506,000; FY 11 $0 - All awards under BIP must be made no later than September 30, 2010. (Project Grants (Discretionary)) FY 09 $0; FY 10 $2,338,011,000; FY 11 Estimate Not Available - All awards under BIP must be made no later than September 30, 2010. To Be Determined. The application package containing the Notice of Funding Availability, application forms and guidelines are available at www.broadbandusa.gov. Fiscal Year 2010: No Current Data Available Fiscal Year 2011: N/A. Fiscal Year 2012: No Current Data Available