Broadband Bytes
  • News
  • About
  • News
  • About

New Iowa Broadband Maps Revealed on July 1

6/23/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
A lot of Iowa broadband providers are counting down the hours until the State of Iowa releases its new maps showing areas eligible for funding under the Iowa Broadband Grant Program. The Iowa OCIO, which administers the program, says the maps will be released  on its website sometime on July 1st.

The rules for the next round of broadband grant funding in Iowa (NOFA #006) are already available for review. The new maps will reflect the tiered eligibility that was created by House File 848, passed by the Iowa Legislature this spring and signed by Governor Kim Reynolds. Grant funds will be available for up to 75% of project costs in Tier 1 Targeted Service Areas (TSA's), defined as areas without available internet of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. Tier 2 areas are defined as those with speeds of 25-50 Mbps download (no upload requirement), and Tier 3 areas are ones with speeds of 50-80 Mbps.

A total of $97,500,000 is available for awards during this round. 20% of the funds are reserved for areas that are considered "difficult to serve" (areas below 25x3, or Tier 1) and the remaining 80% will be available for Tiers 1-3.
The state's prior TSA map, used in the first 5 rounds of grants, only shows areas that were considered unserved under the 25x3 metric, so the new maps will have more areas available for funding. 

One interesting fact pointed out by the office during a webinar on June 17th is that the maps will NOT carve out areas that were awarded RDOF funding but that have not been built. So even if an area received RDOF funding (such as large areas of Iowa won by LTD Broadband and AMG), it will still be eligible under this grant round. 
The application window for NOFA #006 will also open on July 1st, and operators interested in participating will only have until 5pm on July 28th to submit. That's 4 weeks to identify areas you're interested in, come up with a project cost estimate, and fill out the OCIO's various exhibits as part of the application.
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    CBAN YouTube

    Broadband Bytes News

    Presented by the Community Broadband Action Network and curated by Curtis Dean.

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    ALLO
    Broadband
    CenturyLink
    Conduit
    Construction
    Dubuque
    Education
    FCC
    Feasibility Study
    Feedback
    Fiber
    Fiberhood
    Fort Morgan
    FTTP
    Grassroots
    IAMU
    Indianola
    Lawsuit
    Mediacom
    Meeting
    Municipal Broadband
    NCTC
    NMPP
    OTT
    Petition
    Provider
    SCTE
    Skinny Bundle
    Training
    Vinton
    VMVPD
    West Des Moines

Broadband Bytes is presented by the Community Broadband Action Network


Telephone

515-650-0251

Email

curtis@smartsourceconsulting.com