The Broadband Acceleration Grant Program is critical in Kansas’ plan to address broadband gaps statewide. Funds will be targeted to areas that are unlikely to receive broadband service without state or federal funding support.
Donor Name: Kansas Department of Commerce
State: Kansas
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 01/14/2022
Size of the Grant: $1 million
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The Kansas Office of Broadband Development (KOBD) at the Kansas Department of Commerce (KDC), was established to help ensure all Kansans have the opportunity to live, work, learn and compete in a global economy by improving universal access to quality, reliable and affordable broadband.
The Program is designed to offset the capital expenses in the deployment of broadband to unserved areas. The goal of this program is to facilitate broadband access to all Kansans while promoting practices that increase deployment and encourage adoption. Funds will be targeted to areas that are unlikely to receive broadband service without state or federal funding support.
The Broadband Acceleration Grant program is the first state-funded competitive broadband grant opportunity, focusing on the construction of broadband infrastructure to bring access to high-quality internet service to Kansas homes, businesses and communities. The need for access to critical broadband infrastructure was significantly magnified in 2020. Demands of remote learning and work, telehealth services, online business and e-government shifts, and day-to-day quality of life implications crystalized that compelling need exists in many areas across Kansas.
The Broadband Acceleration Grant is intended to address the following priorities:
- Areasthat lack accessto broadband (unserved);
- Areas that lack quality, reliable access to broadband and have a compelling, unmet need;
- Areas deemed economically distressed by the state
In stewarding these public dollars, KOBD also encourages partnership projects that optimize public infrastructure through collective investment such as:
- Projects proposed in KDOT construction corridors or in conjunction with ‘Dig Once’ efforts
- Municipal, County orregional projectsthat are part of a community’sstrategic broadband plan
- Scalable robust co-investment projects
Funding Information
- The Broadband Acceleration Grant program will invest $5 million for the FY2022 program towards bridging the digital divide in Kansas. The maximum is $1 million per award to provide access to highquality, reliable broadband in Kansas with priority given to applications that address unserved areas, economically distressed communities and areas of compelling need.
- The proposed project period for the Broadband Acceleration Grant Year 2 is May 18, 2022 – Oct 31, 2023. Project extensions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Broadband Acceleration Grant seeks projects that will:
- Address priorities for areas that are unserved, economically distressed and areas with compelling needs.
- Incorporate partnership and community engagement through partnership commitments, letters of support, collective investment funding or other explicitly defined involvement.
- Share project information and associated proposed service area data in full transparency for a defined public comment period.
- Meet fiscal requirements including a 50% funding match for the proposed project.
- Be constructed, installed and operational by October 31, 2023, or 18 months from the award whichever is later.
- Commit to required documentation, communications, monitoring, reporting and validation requirements.
Eligible Applicants
Applicants must be authorized to provide broadband services in the area proposed to be served.
Eligible applicants include:
- Political subdivisions or entities of political subdivisions
- Corporations
- Limited liability companies
- Partnerships or other business entities
- Non-profit organizations
- Any other entity authorized by state law to provide broadband services
Eligible Areas
The purpose of the grant is to facilitate broadband access to areas with demonstrated need and may include residential, business and community anchor institution locations. Priority will be given to projects that address areas that are currently unserved, economically distressed communities, areas of compelling need and partnership projects that optimize stewardship of public infrastructure dollars through collective investment and include:
- An unserved area. An area in which households or businesses are without internet access service of at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload speeds.
- An economically distressed area. An area is economically distressed if it has per capita income of 80 percent or less of the national average, or if it has an unemployment rate that is at least 1 percent greater than the national average for the most recent 24month period for which data are available per Stats America.
- Projects proposed in KDOT construction corridors or in conjunction with ‘dig once’ efforts.
- Municipal and/or County projects that are part of a local strategic broadband plan.
- Co-investment partnership projects involving local municipalities, community anchors and service providers
- Proposed service areas are not required to be contiguous. However, non-contiguous areas more than 10 miles apart must include an explanation of how the economic and community impact is the same for the proposed areas.
- Middle mile expenses are eligible for grant funding only when they are necessary for the provision of last mile services described in the application.
For more information, visit Kansas Department of Commerce.
