The Broadband Program provides loans to corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Cooperatives, State or local governments and Indian tribes or tribal organizations for the construction, improvement and acquisition of facilities and equipment. The loan will not fund operating expenses, construction costs incurred prior to the issuance of a complete application status, the purchase of Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) and installation of installed writing (unless certain conditions are met) and leased facilities, among others.

The Loan requires that applicants meet the required Broadband Lending Speed for Eligible Rural Areas.

• The Broadband Lending Speed is the new broadband service offered by the applicant, which must meet a minimum of 10 MB downstream and 1 MB upstream for both fixed and mobile services to the customer.
• RUS defines a rural area as one which is not located within (i) A city, town, or incorporated area that has a population of greater than 20,000 inhabitants; or (ii) An urbanized area contiguous and adjacent to a city or town that has a population of greater than 50,000 inhabitants.

The Broadband Loan Program requires that in addition to being located entirely within a rural area, a service area must be contained within a rural area or multiple rural areas with at least 15 percent of the households unserved, no part of the PFSA has three or more incumbent service providers and no part of the PFSA overlaps with the service area of current RUS borrowers or grantees.

To receive a loan under the Broadband Program, applicants must:

• Have sufficient authority to enter into a contract with RUS;

• Submit a loan application that adheres to the requirements published in 7 CFR 1738 and any additional requirements published in the Federal Register;
• Agree to complete the build-out of the broadband system described in the loan application within three years;
• Demonstrate an ability to furnish, improve or extend service at the Broadband Lending Speed in rural areas;
• Demonstrate an equity position equal to at least 10 percent of the amount of the loan requested; and
• Provide additional security if necessary to ensure financial feasibility as determined by the Administrator.

Specifically, the competitive grants encourage and improve telemedicine and distance learning in rural areas by funding initial capital assets such as telecommunications, computer networks and related advanced technologies. Grants are intended to benefit end-users in rural areas, who are often not in the same location as the source of the educational or health care service. RUS defines Distance Learning and Telemedicine as:

• Distance Learning is a telecommunications link to an end user through the use of equipment to provide educational programs, instruction, or information originating in one area to students and teachers who are located in rural areas and to connect teachers and students located in one rural area with teachers and students in a different rural area.
• Telemedicine is a telecommunications link to an end user from medical professionals at separate sites in order to exchange health care information for the purpose of providing improved health care services primarily to residents of rural areas.

Private corporations, incorporated organizations, Tribes, state and local governments, not-for-profit corporations and consortia of eligible entities are eligible to apply. RUS borrowers are not eligible to apply. Applicants must provide a 15% matching contribution of the total amount of financial assistance requested, in either cash or in-kind contributions. In-kind vendor donations ae not eligible. Applicants who offer more than a 15% match may receive higher scores on their application.

Grants may be used to fund telecommunications-enabled information, audio and video equipment and related advanced technologies which extend educational and medical applications into rural areas. Specifically, grants may fund the

• acquisition of eligible capital assets, such as: audio, video and interactive video equipment; terminal and data terminal equipment; computer hardware, network components and software; and inside wiring and similar infrastructure that further DLT services;
• Acquisition of instructional programming that is a capital asset; and
• Acquisition of technical assistance and instruction for using eligible equipment

Interested parties may apply at www.grants.gov

Project information from 2015 offers details on approved projects, funding amount, matching funds, and project descriptions as well as contact information for the recipients. USDA offers several financial assistance programs for companies seeking to deploy broadband or offer broadband services in rural communities.

If you are interested in learning more about the Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grant program or exploring other federal broadband funding opportunities for broadband, please contact Jennifer Holtz at [email protected] or any member of the Communications Practice Group.