It was previously reported that On March 22, the USDA will start accepting applications for the fifth round of the ReConnect financing program for rural broadband.
The USDA initially scheduled the ReConnect round 5 application deadline on April 22.
However, a notice dated February 26 published in the Federal Register states that the deadline has been extended to May 21.
USDA is now taking applications for funds totaling $700 million for round five of the ReConnect program.
The ReConnect Loan and Grant Program offers grants and loans to cover the expenses of building, upgrading, or purchasing the infrastructure and equipment required to deliver broadband service in rural communities that meet the program’s eligibility requirements.
The USDA will award grants, loans, and combinations of 50% grants and 50% loans to deploy broadband services in unserved rural communities.
Providers may apply for grants, low-interest loans, or 50/50 grant-loan combos in round 5 of the ReConnect initiative, just like in prior rounds.
For corporations owned by Native Americans in Alaska, tribal governments, colonies, areas of persistent poverty, and socially disadvantaged populations, there is an additional funding category.
The agency also published new program guidelines for this round, slightly different from those from round 4.
In a statement issued on Friday, USDA said it has improved for this financing round in several ways.
First, it stated that applications aiming to cover regions in states with the largest concentrations of unserved broadband serviceable sites will receive priority points from USDA.
Secondly, Tribes and other organizations that can meet stringent financial requirements will find it easier to complete the required elements of a ReConnect application.
Lastly, at least 90% of the households in the proposed service area must have inadequate access to 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream speed service.
Below is a summary of how USDA intends to allocate funding. The funding distribution from the USDA is as follows:
- Up to $150 million in funding is available for awards made up entirely of grants. A single applicant may submit up to a $25 million request.
- Up to $200 million in funding is available for 50/50 grant/loan combination awards, and a single applicant may submit a $50 million request.
- Up to $200 million in funding is available for awards granted as loans, and requests for awards up to $50 million are permitted.
- A budget of up to $150 million is allocated for 100% grants to Alaska Native companies, tribal governments, colonias, areas of persistent poverty, and socially vulnerable populations.
A maximum of $25 million can be awarded to each applicant.
The ReConnect program’s round 5 scoring criteria are similar to those of round 4, except for the addition of one new criterion and the removal of two existing ones.
The two categories that were removed were “Level of existing service” and “wholesale broadband services,” and the one that was newly added in round 5 of the ReConnect program was “Most unserved locations per square mile.”
The breakdown of the scoring criteria for round 5 of the Reconnect Program and their category are as follows:
- 25 points can be earned for the Rurality of the proposed service area.
- 20 points can be earned for the Economic needs of the community
- 20 points can be earned for Affordability
- 20 points can be earned for Labor standards
- 15 points can be earned for Tribal areas
- 15 points can be earned for Local governments, non-profits, and cooperatives
- 15 points can be earned for Socially vulnerable communities
- 10 points can be earned for Net neutrality,
- Lastly, up to 10 points can be earned for Most unserved locations per square mile.
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