June 2013 Map of the Month: USDA Community Connect Fund

Pete CodellaBroadband

As was described in a recent blogpost, the USDA announced that up to $21 Million in grants will be made available to promote rural broadband access through the Community Connect Grant program. For June’s map of the month, we’ve created maps that highlight areas in Utah that potentially qualify for Community Connect funding.

CommunityConnect_2013

These maps are based on Spring 2013 broadband coverage data submitted by Utah broadband providers. Wireline and wireless technologies are shown separately as both have a distinct set of advantages, although the CCGP may not consider these two categories of broadband service independently. Labeled place names

are offered as a guide, and are not meant to be a complete list of qualifying populated areas. Proposed areas can be sections of a greater populated area, and need to be determined using the USDA’s mapping tool. For more information on applying for Community Connect Funding, visit our blogpost, or the USDA’s news release about the Community Connect funding.

The USDA broadband speed guidelines are based on a combination of download and upload speeds, while the data these maps are based on contain separate speed values for download and upload. Also, the map data is based on reported maximum advertised speeds, which may differ from typical speeds. Due to these two factors, the mapping team estimated areas that might qualify for Community Connect Funding using two levels of certainty, which are defined below.

‘Unserved by USDA Broadband Speed’: Areas reported by broadband providers with maximum advertised download speeds of 0.7 – 1.5 Mbps or less.

‘Likely unserved at USDA Broadband Speed’: Areas reported by broadband providers with maximum advertised download speeds of 1.5 – 3 Mbps.

Areas that are a darker gray have been reported by providers as having maximum advertised download speeds of 3 Mbps, or above. Areas that have no data are a very light gray. Any questions can be directed to Jessie Pechmann.

The Utah Broadband Project is available to support stakeholders in Utah that are applying for Community Connect funding. Applicants are invited to contact the Project via email for technical support with mapping or statistics related to the Community Connect funding funding opportunity.