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Home » Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability #005

Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability #005

THIS OPPORTUNITY IS NOW CLOSED.

OFFICIAL NOTICE. March 12, 2021. The Office has issued the Notice of Intent to Award (NOIA) for Notice of Funding Availability #005.  The NOIA can be found here. Additional information including a list of all application materials received and a map of awarded project areas can be found below.

Purpose: Governor Reynolds has authorized the allocation and expenditure of residual funds totaling $15,452,302.00 from the CARES Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (“Coronavirus Relief Funds”) to address the increased need for internet connectivity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Broadband Infrastructure Projects under this NOFA must be completed by December 1, 2021.

The purpose of this NOFA is to solicit Applications from Responsible Applicants for the buildout of Broadband Infrastructure Projects that will provide the greatest overall impact in furthering telework, telehealth, distance learning, and other remote services to alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Targeted Service Areas of the State. Targeted Service Areas are areas within which, as of July 31, 2020, either no Communications Service Provider Facilitated at least 25/3 Broadband, or otherwise any area that is materially underserved or without meaningfully available Broadband (See Iowa Administrative Code chapter 129—20). Applications must provide a demonstrable nexus to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a nexus to furthering telework, telehealth, distance learning, and other remote services. This grant round is based on renewed Targeted Service Area determinations published to an updated version of the Statewide Broadband Availability Map on October 28, 2020 at: https://ocio.iowa.gov/broadband-availability-map-version-3. These determinations and this map identify the geographic areas in the State of Iowa in which grant funds under this program are available.

Program DesignConsistent with the foregoing, the Office is seeking Proposals from Responsible Applicants to provide or incentivize expansion of a minimum of 25/3 Broadband to Targeted Service Areas in the State of Iowa. Provided there is a demonstrable nexus to the COVID 19 pandemic, including a nexus to furthering telework, telehealth, distance learning, and other remote services, Applicant’s proposals may accomplish this by reducing or eliminating Targeted Service Areas through the installation of Broadband Infrastructure that Facilitates Broadband service at speeds equal to at least 25/3 Broadband, 50/5 Broadband, or speeds equal to or greater than 100/100 Broadband.  The total amount of Coronavirus Relief Funds sought under this NOFA may not exceed:

  1. Projects that will result in the installation of Broadband infrastructure that will Facilitate Broadband service at or above 100/100 Broadband, seventy-five percent (75%), of the actual or originally estimated, whichever is less, Total Project Costs.
  2. Projects that will result in the installation of Broadband infrastructure that will Facilitate Broadband service at speeds less than 100/100 Broadband but greater than or equal to 50/5 Broadband, fifty percent (50%) of the actual or originally estimated, whichever is less, Total Project Costs.
  3. Projects that will result in the installation of Broadband infrastructure that will Facilitate Broadband service at speeds less than 50/5 Broadband, but greater than or equal to 25/3 Broadband, thirty-five percent (35%) of the actual or originally estimated, whichever is less, Total Project Costs.
The following information concerning OCIO Broadband Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability #005 can be found below:
 

    Notice of Funding Availability #005 - Documentation

    Information concerning the grant application process, including all application materials, agreements, and program information are provided below. All Applications to this NOFA were required to be submitted electronically through the Iowa Grants System, as part of Funding Opportunity #390478  - Empower Rural Iowa Emergency Broadband Expansion Program (NOFA #005).

    Notice of Funding Availability #005 - Schedule of Important Dates

    The timeline for Notice of Funding Availability #005 is set forth below including steps and dates of each of the major element of the program.

    GRANT TIMELINE DATE
    NOFA #005 Issued 1/19/2021
    Written Questions Due By 1/28/2021
    Written Responses Posted By 2/2/2021
    Application Acceptance Window Opens 2/4/2021
    Application Acceptance Window Closes/Applications Due 2/25/2021,
    5:00 PM CST
    Technical Review/Quantitative Scoring Begins 3/1/2021
    Technical Review/Quantitative Scoring Ends 3/5/2021
    Applications and Quantitative Scoring Submitted to Evaluation Committee 3/8/2021
    Final Agency Decision / Anticipated Notice of Intent to Award Issued 3/15/2021
    Contracting Process begins 3/22/2021

    Notice of Funding Availability #005 - Applications Received

    The information below includes all applications received by the Office under this NOFA including those that did not receive grant awards. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any application withdrawn from consideration prior to the NOIA issuance is not published here. The table below shows key facts associated with received and awarded applications. The "Awarded" row represents the key facts for applications that were offered funding pursuant to the Notice of Intent to Award.

     
    Applications
    Grant Funds Requested
    Total Project Costs
    Homes, Schools, and Businesses Served
    U.S. Census Blocks Affected
    Square Miles Affected
    Counties Affected
    Received
    42
    $41,384,592.28
    $61,085,171.35
    28,732
    15,198
    4,758.82
    72
    Awarded
    14
    $15,452,302.00
    $21,374,113.15
    2,827
    1,400
    638.89
    21

    42 applications were deemed submitted in response to NOFA #005. The public, redacted versions of each application are provided below. In the Application column, click the link to download a zip file containing the public version of that application. The "Final Disposition" column in the table below indicates the final status of the award. If an applicant received an awarded from the Office pursuant to the Notice of Intent To Award for this opportunity upon final issuance, this column will be marked as "Awarded." All awarded applications are highlighted in bold.

    Application Control Number
    Applicant Name
    Application
    (Click To Download)
    Funds Awarded
    Final Disposition
    394995 Allamakee Clayton Electric OCIO#5 Dorchester Fiber
    $4,584,200.45
    Awarded
    396714 Alpine Communications Alpine Communications Rural Clayton County ELKADER W NOFA #005
    $1,298,737.90
    Awarded
    397845 AMG Technology Investment Group, LLC Nextlink Internet Broadband_Grants_Core_Application-NOFA005
    Not Awarded
    397048 Brooklyn Mutual Telecommunications Brooklyn Mutual Grant expansion in Poweshiek County
    Not Awarded
    395899 BTC, Inc Glenwood South
    $1,530,621.90
    Awarded
    395900 BTC, Inc. Hastings IA
    Not Awarded
    395901 BTC, Inc. Carroll North
    Not Awarded
    397826 Casey Mutual Telephone Co. Adel/Desoto FTTH
    Not Awarded
    396047 Citizen's Mutual Telephone Cooperative Rural Wapello and Davis Counties Broadband Expansion
    $743,550.00
    Awarded
    397332 Coon Valley Cooperative Rural Fiber Development
    Not Awarded
    396005 Danville Mutual Telephone Lowell Area FTTP Build
    Not Awarded
    397307 Dumont Telephone Kesley Rural
    Not Awarded
    396069 Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company Portsmouth and Aspinwall Builds to locations
    Not Awarded
    396918 Farmer's Mutual Telephone Company Rural Red Oak Iowa Fiber to the Premises Build
    Not Awarded
    397892 Huxley Communications Cooperative NOFA#5 Shipley to Maxwell Route
    Not Awarded
    396486 IAMO Communications College Springs East FTTP Project
    $1,089,150.00
    Awarded
    397597 ImOn Communications LLC Lakeside - NOFA #005
    Not Awarded
    397331 Kalona Cooperative Rural Washington County
    $229,552.37
    Awarded
    396857 Kuhl Airnet, Inc. OCIO #5 Build-Out
    Not Awarded
    396925 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 1
    Not Awarded
    397832 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 2
    $181,568.25
    Awarded
    397843 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 3
    Not Awarded
    397830 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 4
    Not Awarded
    397853 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 5
    Not Awarded
    397857 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 6
    Not Awarded
    397859 LTD Broadband LTD Broadband Grant Application - Area 7
    Not Awarded
    395852 Mediapolis Telephone Company Rural Des Moines County Broadband Expansion
    $725,475.00
    Awarded
    396483 MiBroadband LLC Florenceville FTTP
    Not Awarded
    396965 Modern Coop Telephone Millersburg and Webster town FTTH project
    Not Awarded
    397161 Northeast Iowa Telephone Rural Clayton and Allamakee Counties 100 Meg Broadband Deployment.
    Not Awarded
    395403 Omnitel Communications Rural Fremont and Mills Counties Broadband Expansion
    $241,139.69
    Awarded
    395420 Omnitel Communications Rural Madison and Warren Counties Broadband Expansion
    $884,026.84
    Awarded
    395917 River Valley Telecommunications To construct and provide the broadband required for the census blocks in our service area
    Not Awarded
    394987 Sharon Telephone Company Rural Riverside Extension
    Not Awarded
    395299 South Slope Cooperative Phase 2 of Rural Iowa and Johnson Counties FTTP Project
    $140,500.00
    Awarded
    396993 Spring Grove Communications Spring Grove Communications - Hanover Township FTTP
    $592,279.60
    Awarded
    395739 Stratford Mutual Central Iowa Broadband Expansion
    $1,521,075.00
    Awarded
    396499 US Cellular Corp. USCC Rural 5G Modernization
    Not Awarded
    397325 USA Communications North Iowa River Corridor Broadband Expansion
    $1,690,425.00
    Awarded
    396995 Webster Calhoun Cooperative Fraser Broadband Expansion
    Not Awarded
    396715 West Liberty Telephone Fiber Atwood Ave to Northeast of Lone Tree
    Not Awarded
    397577 Windstream Services LLC Iowa Empower Rural Broadband - Windstream 2020
    Not Awarded

    Notice of Funding Availability #005 - Map of Awarded Areas

    This grant round was based on renewed Targeted Service Area determinations published to an updated version of the Statewide Broadband Availability Map V3 on October 28, 2020 at: https://ocio.iowa.gov/broadband-availability-map-version-3. A map of areas associated with awarded applications is provided below.

    Open Map of Awarded Applications in New Window

    Printed from the website on March 28, 2024 at 2:03pm.