Heather Mills, V.P. for Grant & Funding Strategies Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst The Consolidated Appropriations Act that became law in late December created the “Connecting Minority Communities Pilot Program.” We present here our preliminary guidance for maximizing the impact of this new funding opportunity, based on our analysis of the appropriations language. We will […]
By Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst The criticality of broadband has never been more apparent than during the crises of the past year. At CTC, we’ve had many opportunities to see the urgency that states and localities around the country feel about improving connectivity—and we’ve been proud to be part of responding to that urgency. […]
By Shawn Thompson, V.P. for Analytics For state and local governments and their partners, the results of the FCC’s three recent auctions for subsidies and spectrum will have a significant impact on long-term broadband planning. CTC developed interactive tools for analyzing the results of each auction. The FCC’s reverse auction for the Rural Digital Opportunity […]
Heather Mills, Team Lead, Funding Strategies Ziggy Rivkin-Fish, Principal Grant Strategist October 29, 2020 All signs are pointing to a third round of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s ReConnect funding program opening in spring 2021. It’s not too early to begin developing an application strategy to position yourself competitively for that opportunity. We expect the […]
Read More… from Are You Thinking About ReConnect Round Three Yet? You Should Be.
Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst In late September, USDA’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) opened the FY2021 funding round for its well-regarded Community Connect broadband funding program. Community Connect is a competitive grant program that distributes awards to rural, unserved communities demonstrating economic necessity. Awards range from $100,000 to $3 million and require a 15 percent […]
Read More… from USDA Announces New Rural Broadband Grant Funding
Andrew Afflerbach, PhD, P.E. CEO & CTO Now that a federal appeals court has largely upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s preemption of local authority over small cell siting, states and localities would be wise to rigorously document their costs of processing applications and hosting equipment on utility poles or light poles. If they undertake such […]
Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst Local governments in Maryland have a short application window for a new grant opportunity that will fund broadband and other projects. Applicants that are interested in the State of Maryland’s FY 2020 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program must file their applications by September 23. Overview The State of Maryland currently […]
Read More… from Coronavirus Emergency Funding Available to Maryland Jurisdictions
With the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrating the critical need for communications connectivity, local governments are striving to improve local broadband service and fill broadband service gaps. At the same time, localities may be able to generate much-needed revenue from broadband and telecom assets they already own, including towers, fiber optics, rooftops, conduit, and poles. Indeed, many […]
Read More… from How Localities Can Monetize Broadband-Enabling Assets and Expand Connectivity
Heather Mills, Team Lead, Funding Strategies Ziggy Rivkin-Fish, Principal Grant Strategist The recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act added $1.5 billion to an existing grant program of the US Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). This is a significant opportunity, both because of the size of the allocation and its […]
Cat Blake, Civic Technology Analyst The ongoing COVID-19 crisis has all of us searching for solutions—for health and safety, reassurance and comfort, education and employment. Many have heralded internet access as the solution that can address these problems. It’s true that universal access to robust, affordable broadband is paramount; this crisis has exposed, more so […]
Read More… from The Broadband Lifeline in a Pandemic: Digital Equity for Human Empowerment