WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) recently announced the availability of $288 million in grant funding for the deployment of broadband infrastructure. Grants will be awarded to partnerships between a state, or political subdivisions of a state, and providers of fixed broadband service. NTIA’s Broadband Infrastructure Program was established by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.

In the priority order defined by the Act, NTIA will accept applications for projects that are designed to:

• Provide broadband service to the greatest number of households in an eligible service area;
• Provide broadband service to rural areas;
• Be most cost-effective in providing broadband service; or
• Provide broadband service with a download speed of at least 100 Mbps and an upload speed of
  at least 20 Mbps.

NTIA will group applications based on the priority above that each application addresses and will sequence its review of application groups in the statutory order listed above.

Applications for Broadband Infrastructure Program grants are being accepted through August 17, 2021. NTIA expects to complete its review, selection of successful applicants, and award processing by November 15, 2021. NTIA expects the earliest start date for awards to be November 29, 2021. By law, the projects are to be completed in one year; however, NTIA is creating a process for projects to get extensions to complete work.

More information about the program, including requirements for grant applications, can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity published today on grants.gov. NTIA is also holding a series of webinars to further inform the public about the program. The next Broadband Infrastructure webinars will be held on June 9 and 10.