Agenda - 03-02-2010 - 4j - Laserfiche WebLink

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Attachment 1 Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) Grant Application The federal ARRA grant program has two components, the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) administered through the US Department of Commerce - National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIS) and the Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) administered through the US Department of Agriculture -Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The BTOP is focused more on urban areas and "Middle Mile" projects. The BIP is focused on "last mile", rural libraries, and satellite projects. Orange County will be applying to the BIP for one or more requests to locate broadband service providers as collocators on new American Tower sites and to locate a facility at the Northern Human Service Center. American Tower, Inc. will build the towers at its own cost. The grant(s) will be to subsidize broadband service in the rural, un-served portions of Orange County. Rural is now defined as a service area not less than five miles from an urban area with a population greater than 20,000 people. In Orange County this will exclude afive-mile ring around the Town of Chapel Hill and those portions of eastern Orange County within five miles of the Durham Urban Growth Boundary. Un-served areas are those service areas with no access to facilities-based, terrestrial broadband service, either fixed or mobile, at the minimum broadband transmission speed [5 Mbps (upstream and down). A premise has access to broadband service if it can readily subscribe to that service upon request. Key grant points: • No local match is required. • Library grants are funded at 100% • All other grant requests are for 75% grant and 25% loan, except if socio-economic data can support an exemption. • Funding requests are limited to $10,000 per premises, except if socio-economic data can support an exemption.