Department of Commerce’s NTIA Awards $277M in Grants to Expand Broadband Infrastructure

Friday, February 25, 2022

WASHINGTON – The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced today it has awarded 13 grants as part of the Broadband Infrastructure Program. These grants, totalling more than $277 million, will connect more than 133,000 unserved households.

The grants were awarded to 12 states and one territory: Georgia, Guam, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia. More information on each of these grant projects is provided in the table below.

“Today’s awards are another example of the Biden administration’s commitment to closing the digital divide and building strong partnerships with those who can help us expand internet access,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo. “Thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we now have the opportunity to connect every unserved household in the country, ensuring that all Americans are able to participate in our 21^st century economy. This is not only a win for American families who need and deserve high-speed, affordable internet for remote learning and telehealth services, but this also presents an incredible opportunity for American businesses and will make our country more competitive globally.”

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, provides a historic $65 billion investment to expand broadband in communities across the U.S. NTIA is preparing to launch a series of new broadband grant programs funded by the law that will build broadband infrastructure across the country, create more low-cost broadband service options, and address the digital equity and inclusion needs in our communities.

“These awards are a great first step in our march toward connecting every American to affordable, high-speed broadband service,” said Alan Davidson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. “We are eager to work closely with the grant recipients who will help us deploy broadband infrastructure to areas that have lacked it for too long.”

The Broadband Infrastructure Program, funded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, was designed to support broadband infrastructure deployment in unserved areas, mainly rural areas. NTIA thoroughly and objectively reviewed applications using a three-stage process: Initial Administrative and Eligibility Review of Complete Application Packets, Merit Review, and Programmatic Review. Reviewers evaluated applications according to the criteria provided in Section V of the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Additional broadband funding may be available through the Department of Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Funds. The BroadbandUSA Federal Funding Guide also compiles federal funding opportunities to expand and improve broadband access. More information about the Broadband Infrastructure Program can be found on the BroadbandUSA website.

The Lenoir County Fiber To The Home Expansion, a last-mile broadband deployment in Lenoir County, North Carolina, is designed to bring qualifying broadband to 15,256 unserved households across the county.	Location	Type of Project	Funding Amount	Brief Description
County of Lumpkin	Lumpkin County, GA	Last Mile	$8,154,539	The Guam Broadband Infrastructure Program project is a middle-mile and last-mile broadband deployment in Guam’s territory designed to bring qualifying broadband to 10,000 unserved households across the region.
Government of Guam Department of Administration	Hagatna, Guam	Last Mile and Middle Mile	$12,770,692.18	The State of Mississippi’s Application for NTIA Grant Funding project is a last-mile and middle-mile broadband deployment across the state of Mississippi consisting of ten unique projects designed to bring qualifying broadband to 12,487 unserved households across ten counties.
Scott County Fiscal Court	Scott County, KY (areas other than Georgetown, the county seat)	Last Mile	$3,123,999	The ConnectMaine Authority Statewide Broadband Infrastructure project is a last-mile broadband deployment in rural Maine designed to bring qualifying broadband to 11,746 unserved households across the state.
Acadiana Planning Commission	Acadiana Region, LA (Acadia Parish, Evangeline Parish, and St. Landry Parish)	Last Mile	$29,940,612	The Acadiana Regional Public/Private Partnership for the Deployment of a Fiber to the Home Network in the Rural Underserved Areas of Acadiana project is a last-mile broadband deployment in the Acadiana region of Louisiana that is designed to bring qualifying broadband to 22,196 unserved households across the region.
ConnectMaine Authority	Statewide	Last Mile	$28,097,295	The Broadband Infrastructure Build Out in Lumpkin County, GA, project is a last-mile infrastructure broadband service that will deploy fibre-optic broadband in Lumpkin County, Georgia. This project will serve 5,448 households across Lumpkin County, GA, as well as 193 businesses and 13 community anchor institutions within the proposed area.
State of Mississippi	Statewide	Last Mile and Middle Mile	$32,696,322.55	The State of Mississippi’s Application for NTIA Grant Funding project is a last-mile and middle-mile broadband deployment across the state of Mississippi consisting of ten unique projects designed to bring qualifying broadband to 12,487 unserved households across ten counties.
Missouri Department of Economic Development	12 MO counties (Butler, Marion, Shelby, Monroe, Jasper, Pulaski, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, Livingston, McDonald, and Boone)	Last Mile	$42,241,491.12	The broadband infrastructure project in Sabine County, TX, is a last-mile broadband build to provide last-mile, fibre broadband service to 5,254 households, 158 businesses, and 2 community anchor institutes for a total of 5,414 locations in sections of Sabine County that are unserved.
County of Elko	Elko County, NV	Last Mile	$7,350,000.86	The Scott County Rural Broadband Expansion Project is a last-mile project in Scott County, Kentucky. This project will construct fibre to serve 5,351 households in the project area, reaching 100% of currently unserved homes.
North Carolina Global TransPark Authority	Lenoir County, N.C.	Last Mile	$29,985,800	The Rural Broadband Infrastructure Expansion in the Alleghenies project, led by applicant Huntingdon County, proposes to deploy last-mile fixed wireless service to Huntingdon, Bedford, Fulton, Mifflin, Juniata, and Franklin counties in the Southern Alleghenies region of Pennsylvania to deliver improved wireless technology to 7,261 unserved households.
Huntingdon County	Six PA counties (Huntingdon, Bedford, Fulton, Mifflin, Juniata, and Franklin)	Last Mile	$20,463,175.24	The Broadband Infrastructure Build Out in Lumpkin County, GA, project is a last-mile infrastructure broadband service that will deploy fibre-optic broadband service in Lumpkin County, Georgia. This project will serve 5,448 households across Lumpkin County, GA, as well as 193 businesses and 13 community anchor institutions within the proposed area.
Sabine County	Sabine County, TX	Last Mile	$12,700,959.02	The Connecting Rural Counties: Washington State Broadband Office Partnership Broadband Initiative is a last-mile fibre and last-mile wireless project that aims to overcome the barriers to broadband access and connectivity in five rural counties of the state: Ferry, Jefferson, Kittitas, Okanogan, and Stevens counties. These counties were selected as a result of the assessment conducted by the state of Washington in 2019 following state legislation to bring high-speed internet access to all by 2024. The project aims to bring broadband service to 7,196 unserved households
Washington State Department of Commerce	Five WA counties (Ferry, Jefferson, Kittitas, Okanogan, and Stevens)	Last Mile	$30,000,000	The State of Missouri Department of Economic Development project is a last-mile fibre deployment across 12 counties: Butler, Marion, Shelby, Monroe, Jasper, Pulaski, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis, Livingston, McDonald, and Boone. The project is designed to bring qualifying broadband to 13,094 unserved households with up to 1/1 Gbps service.
County of Logan	Logan County, WV	Last Mile	$19,678,779.52	The Logan & Mingo Counties Fiber to the Premises project is a last-mile broadband deployment in Logan County, West Virginia, and Mingo County, West Virginia, designed to bring qualifying broadband to 12,859 unserved households across the region.