The Utah Broadband Project’s June 2014 Map of the Month highlights communities that may qualify for two funding opportunities.
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Connect Grant Program provides broadband deployment funding opportunities to the most underserved communities in the nation. The deadline to apply for this funding is July 7, 2014.
USDA limits funding to areas where no broadband services exist that provides a combined download and upload speed of 3 Mbps. Since the Utah Broadband Project collects data in speed ranges, not actual advertised speeds, our map shows communities (labeled in black) with maximum advertised download speeds below 3 Mbps. The map is intended to show communities that may qualify, but applicants should work with USDA to determine if these communities will meet the funding criteria.
Recently, the FCC released a detailed proposal for the Connect America Fund (CAF) Phase II. The program funds broadband projects in underserved communities. The FCC’s proposal recommends raising its threshold for funding to any community that does not have 10 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload. This month’s map also highlights (in purple text) communities that may qualify for funding under the FCC’s new proposed CAF Phase II qualifications. A list of these communities can be found here.
Please contact our project team if you have questions or need any additional information.