Federal Stimulus Grant Process Still Moving Forward

Contrary to what has been reported elsewhere today, the Nevada County Connected project’s ARRA stimulus broadband grant application is still in the running for Federal funding. The project has been in due diligence for the past four weeks. The application moved to due diligence because it was considered a “project of merit” by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). This is a huge step forward in the process of successful funding. Currently, the team of John Paul and Chip Carman of Spiral Internet with Gil Mathew of the Nevada County Economic Resource Council have been hunkered down responding to questions from a NTIA team of six people. That team is assigned to help us “fine tune” our submission. Once we complete due diligence, we will move into the “evaluation/decision” phase. They will act as our advocates. We are cautiously optimistic at this point.

A regional project we have partnered with, named Central Valley Next-Generation Broadband Infrastructure Project, just completed due diligence. The ARRA Round 2 application and funding process continues into September. A number of California projects will undoubtedly move forward and be funded.

The “Broadband Award Roster” that was announced today is related to the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service Broadband Initiatives Program (BIP) and the Department of Commerce’s NTIA Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). The first 66 projects included none from California. The Nevada County Connected’s application was submitted to BTOP under their Comprehensive Community Infrastructure funding program. The Round 2 ARRA grant is proceeding through September of this year.

Nevada County Connected Advances to Due Diligence

The Nevada County Economic Resource Council (ERC) has been notified that the Nevada County Connected (NCC) wireless broadband Internet network project has been brought into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Round 2 due diligence process. Per the email received, “Only those applications considered to be highly qualified advance from merit review to due diligence.”

The Round 2 application for NCC was submitted by the ERC on March 26 requesting $7.69 million in federal stimulus funding for the $11.1 million project within the Comprehensive Community Infrastructure (CCI) category under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP). This stimulus funding is provided through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Nevada County Connected was recently included in Governor Schwarzenegger’s top 10 recommended CCI projects in Round 2, and has already received a California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant of $1.1 million — a 10% match predicated on the receipt of ARRA funding.

060410-NCC-PRESSRELEASE.pdf

NCC Potentially to Partner with CVIN/CENIC

CENIC (Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in Calif.) and NCC (Nevada County Connected) exchanged letters of support in their ARRA round two grant applications. CENIC and their partner CVIN (Central Valley Next-Generation) were in the Governor’s nine “Highly Recommended” projects and Nevada County Connected (NCC) was in the Governor’s “Recommended Projects” .

>>>> CENIC/CVIN is currently undergoing the due diligence process.
>>>> Nevada County Connected initiated into the due diligence process on June 3, 2010.

CVIN/CENIC’s application to the NTIA for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus funds proposes increased broadband network access in 18 Central California counties, including Nevada County. If funded, CVIN/CENIC will build a 1371 mile fiber-optics infrastructure through 18 California counties: Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Fresno, Kings, Kern, Mariposa, Merced, Madera, Nevada, Placer, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tuolumne, Tulare and Yuba providing direct fiber connectivity to 63 anchor institutions and access by another 40 anchor sites and hundreds of thousands of businesses and residences.

Among the anchor institutions to be initially directly connected via fiber are Nevada County’s County Office of Education and County Library. CVIN/CENIC estimated the total infrastructure cost to be $66,599,668 and have requested 70% stimulus funding with the partners providing the 30% match.

CVIN/CENIC is having their first project status briefing in Nevada County on Wednesday, May 19 to meet and inform community leaders of the application and the project. They will be providing details about the project they submitted to NTIA and seek input and suggestions on how best to serve the county needs once the infrastructure is implemented.

Visit their web site where you can get more information and track the progress of the ARRA Round 2 grant application, as it currently is in due diligence: http://www.cvngbip.org

Nevada County Wireless Project Gets Unique Recommendation from Governor

Nevada County Connected (NCC) was the only wireless project to be recommended by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in his May 3 list of top projects to be considered for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Round 2 broadband funding.

NCC, which was one of only 10 recommended projects in the “Comprehensive Community Infrastructure” category, was submitted as a model middle-mile project to provide broadband Internet access for geographically diverse rural communities. The Round 2 application for NCC was submitted by the Nevada County Economic Resource Council (ERC) on March 26 requesting $7.69 million in federal stimulus funding.

Governor Schwarzenegger listed three “highly recommended” projects under that category, all for fiber optic solutions. Nevada County Connected was listed under the remaining seven “recommended” projects. The other two categories were “Public Computer Centers,” and “Sustainable Broadband Adoption,” which also had 10 recommendations each, for a total of 30 overall.

“Ninety-seven California broadband projects submitted applications in Round 2,” said ERC President & CEO Gil Mathew. “We were extremely pleased to hear that our project was in the top 10 in its category and the only wireless one recommended by the Governor and the State CIO’s office.”

Chip Carman of Spiral Internet, part of the Nevada County Connected team, pointed out that “The carrier-grade technology proposed for Nevada County Connected allows us to deploy wireless services that are frequency- and technology-independent. So local Internet Service Providers, cellular phone providers, and public safety can all use the infrastructure easily. We’re ready for the future, since the network is also scalable.”

In earlier Round 1 funding, seven California broadband Internet projects received $31.5 million in federal grant monies, and $4.7 million in loans. Nevada County Connected was declined federal stimulus monies in Round 1, although did receive a California Advanced Services Fund (CASF) grant of $1.3 million, predicated on the receipt of ARRA funding. The CASF funding is applicable to Round 2 ARRA submittals. Nevada County Connected was also included in Governor Schwarzenegger’s top 30 recommended projects in Round 1. It is expected that Round 2 grant recipients will be announced later this summer.

A complete list of Round 1 grant recipients and Round 2 grant application submittals can be found at BroadbandUSA.gov

Download Governor’s letter . Download Governor’s recommendations

NCC ARRA grant application gains both Boxer and McClintock support

Senator Barbara Boxer and Congressman Tom McClintock both recommended our project to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

(click on letter for PDF of entire letter)

nccletter_boxernccletter_mcclintock

ARRA grant and Google RFI submitted

Both the ARRA grant application for Nevada County Connected and the Google’s Fiber to the Community RFI have both been submitted successfully by the deadline!

95959Google Video live

“It’s here! It’s finally here!!! The 95959 GOOGLE video is online! CHECK IT OUT and be impressed to see what our little town of Nevada City pulled together. Get ready to be very impressed!”
– Reinette Senum, Nevada City Mayor
95959google.com | www.youtube.com

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) gave their report to Congress on March 15, 2010, outlining it’s plan to increase both the reach and speed of internet access in the US by 2020 providing 100Mbps of affordable bandwidth to homes and 1Gbps (1,000Mbps) to “anchor institutions” like hospitals and schools.

Click here to learn more about the FCC National Broadband Plan