Grant Details

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The Community-Oriented Connectivity Broadband Grant Program (Community Connect Grant Program) is designed to provide financial assistance to provide service at the Broadband Grant Speed in rural, economically-challenged communities where broadband service does not currently exist. Priority will be given to rural areas that demonstrate the greatest need for broadband services.In FY2018, grant funds may be used to:

• Deploy Broadband service to community facilities, rural residents, and rural businesses,
• Construct, acquire, or expand a community center, and
• Equip a community center that provides free access to service at the Broadband Grant Speed to community residents for at least two years. 

Funds may be used for: 

• Construction, acquisition, or leasing of facilities, spectrum and land used to deploy service for:
  • All residential and business customers located within the proposed funded service area.
  • All participating critical community facilities
• The cost of providing broadband service free of charge to critical community facilities for 2 years;
• Less than 10% of the grant amount or up to $150,000 may be used for the improvement, expansion, construction or acquisition of a community center that provides online access to the public.

Eligible projects must propose to fulfill the following requirements 

• Minimum Broadband Service. RUS uses this measurement to determine whether a proposed funded service area is served or unserved. Until otherwise revised in the Federal Register, the minimum rate-of-data transmission that qualifies as Minimum Broadband Service is ten megabits per second downstream and one megabit per second upstream for both fixed and mobile broadband service. RUS will determine that Broadband Service does not exist for areas with no broadband access or whose access is less than 10 Mbps downstream plus 1 Mbps upstream. 
• Minimum Broadband Grant Speed. The minimum bandwidth that an applicant must propose to deliver to every customer in the proposed funded service area. Until otherwise revised in the Federal Register, the minimum rate of-data transmission that qualifies as Minimum Broadband Grant Speed is twenty-five megabits downstream and three megabits upstream for both fixed and mobile service to the customer. 
• Rural Area. A Rural Area refers to any area, as confirmed by the most recent decennial Census of the United States, which is not located within: (1) A city, town, or incorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants; or (2) An urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 inhabitants.
• Proposed Funded Service Area (PFSA). Applicants must define a contiguous geographic area within an eligible Rural Area, in which Broadband Service does not currently exist, and where the applicant proposes to offer service at the Broadband Grant Speed to all residential and business customers. A PFSA must not overlap with Service Areas of current RUS borrowers and grantees. 
• Critical Community Facilities. Applicants must propose to offer service, free of charge to users, at the Broadband Grant Speed to all Critical Community Facilities located within the Proposed Funded Service Area for at least two years. 
• Community Center. Applicants must propose to provide a Community Center, within the PFSA, with at least two (2) Computer Access Points and wireless access at the Broadband Grant Speed free of charge to users for at least two years.