Iowa Providers Waiting on NOFA#006 News

Providers who submitted 178 applications for funding under the latest round of the Iowa Broadband Grant Program are anxiously awaiting news from the Iowa OCIO office.

The latest round of funding, NOFA#006, has a budget of $97.5 million that was allocated by the Iowa Legislature to expand broadband access in rural Iowa. Nearly $300 million in applications were submitted by the July 28th deadline, meaning many providers will be disappointed when the winners are announced.

Under the original schedule of NOFA#006, that announcement was scheduled to be made on Friday, September 3rd, but the OCIO did specify that this date was "anticipated". Once announced, the OCIO will move forward quickly to execute grant agreements with the winning applicants.

Several municipal utilities in Iowa were among the applicants. 

• Cedar Falls Utilities applied for $2.6 million for rural FTTP in areas around Cedar Falls
• Manning Municipal Utilities submitted a $2.7 million application for FTTP in rurl areas surrounding Manning
• Osage Municipal Utilities is seeking $523,000 to help fund FTTP in the community of Orchard and rural areas southeast of Osage.
• Vinton Municipal Communications Utility's application of $487,000 would help fund FTTP in areas southeast and east of Vinton.
• Muscatine Power & Water is seeking $547,000 in funds to build fiber in areas northeast of Muscatine

CLICK HERE to see a map showing the proposed coverage areas for all of the applications.