§ 4-4-38.5-9 — Grants for eligible broadband projects; funding priorities; grant eligibility; preferred projects; publication of grant applications and receipt of comments, objections, and counter proposals

Indiana § 4-4-38.5-9

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 4: LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
• Ch. 38.5: Broadband Grants for Rural Areas

Text

(a) The office shall establish procedures for
the awarding of grants from the fund after July 31, 2019, by state
agencies to eligible broadband service providers for eligible broadband
projects.
(b) The procedures established under this section must establish the
following priorities for the awarding of grants under this chapter:
(1) First, extending the deployment of eligible broadband service
(as defined in section 3(1) of this chapter) to any building:
(A) that is used by a public school corporation primarily for
educating students; and
(B) with respect to which the only available connections to the
Internet are at actual speeds of less than one thousand (1,000)
megabits per second downstream.
(2) Second, extending the deployment of eligible broadband
service (as defined in section 3(1) of this chapter) to any rural
health clinic with respect to which the only available connections
to the Internet are at actual speeds of less than one thousand
(1,000) megabits per second downstream.
(3) Third, extending the deployment of eligible broadband service
(as defined in section 3(2) of this chapter) so as to ensure that
every eligible student has at the student's primary Indiana
residence an access point that provides a connection to the
Internet at actual speeds of at least the speed set forth in section
3(2) of this chapter.
(4) Fourth, extending the deployment of eligible broadband
service (as defined in section 3(2) of this chapter) to rural areas
in which the only available connections to the Internet are at
actual speeds of less than one hundred (100) megabits per second
downstream.
(5) Projects:
(A) described in subdivision (2) shall not be funded before
projects described in subdivision (1);
(B) described in subdivision (3) shall not be funded before
projects described in subdivision (1) or (2); and
(C) described in subdivision (4) shall not be funded before
projects described in subdivision (1), (2), or (3).
However, a state agency may fund an eligible broadband project
that is designated as a lower priority under this subsection if no
competitive applications for eligible broadband projects
designated as a higher priority under this subsection are submitted
with respect to any particular round of grant funding under this
chapter.
(c) Except for a project described in subsection (b)(1) or (b)(2), the
procedures established under this section may not permit the awarding
of a grant from the fund for any proposed broadband project to deploy
broadband infrastructure to a specific address for which a connection
to the Internet that provides an actual speed of at least one hundred
(100) megabits per second downstream is available.
(d) The procedures established under this section may not permit the
office to award a grant from the fund:
(1) for any project to extend the deployment of eligible broadband
service to one (1) or more service addresses with respect to which
funding from the federal government has been used or will be
disbursed to extend broadband service at actual speeds of at least
one hundred (100) megabits per second downstream to those
same addresses; or
(2) if the awarding of the grant would jeopardize funding that has
been awarded by the federal government for purposes of
expanding broadband service in Indiana, including funding from
the:
(A) Connect America Fund;
(B) Rural Digital Opportunity Fund;
(C) Broadband Technology Opportunities Program; or
(D) State Broadband Initiative;
or from any other similar federal funding program.
(e) The procedures established under this section must establish a
system of priorities for awarding grants under this chapter, weighted as
determined by the office in guidelines adopted under section 10 of this
chapter, that gives preference to eligible broadband projects that meet
the following criteria:
(1) Projects that will provide eligible broadband service to
unincorporated areas in Indiana.
(2) Projects for which the applicant commits to providing more
than fifty percent (50%) of the cost to deploy the proposed
broadband infrastructure.
(3) Projects that require a lower contribution from the fund per
passing, as determined by calculating:
(A) the amount of the grant to be awarded under this chapter;
divided by
(B) the total number of unserved homes and unserved
businesses at which eligible broadband service will be made
available by completion of the eligible broadband project.
(4) Projects that permit the applicant to use existing facilities or
infrastructure to enable the applicant to offer eligible broadband
service to buildings or locations described in subsection (b).
(f) The procedures established under this section must prohibit a
state agency, in awarding any grant from the fund, from discriminating
between different types of technology used to provide eligible
broadband service in connection with proposed eligible broadband
projects.
(g) The procedures established under this section must, subject to
section 14 of this chapter, require the office to publish on the office's
website all grant applications, including the specific addresses for
which state funds would be used to provide eligible broadband service,
received by the office under this chapter. For each grant application
received, the office shall establish a period of at least thirty (30) days
from the date the application is published on the office's website under
this subsection, during which time the office will accept comments or
objections concerning the application. The office shall consider, in
making a determination as to whether to award a grant to an applicant
under this chapter, all comments or objections received under this
subsection, including any new grant application that:
(1) is submitted by another eligible broadband service provider;
and
(2) indicates that such other eligible broadband service provider
would be willing to provide eligible broadband service to the
same addresses included in the posted application at a lower cost
to the state.
Any new grant application submitted by another eligible broadband
service provider under subdivisions (1) and (2) in response to a grant
application published on the office's website must be submitted to the
office within the time frame established by the office under this
subsection for the submission of comments and objections with respect
to the published grant application. The office shall publish any new
grant applications submitted under subdivisions (1) and (2) on the
office's website and shall notify the original grant applicant of the
publication. However, the submission of one (1) or more new grant
applications under subdivisions (1) and (2) does not trigger a new
comment period under this subsection with respect to those new
applications. Any amended grant application by the original applicant
in response to any new grant application under subdivisions (1) and (2)
must be submitted within a time frame that is established by the office
and that commences with the publication of the new application on the
office's website. The office is not required to allow the submission of
new applications in response to any amended application by the
original broadband service provider.

Legislative History

As added by P.L.189-2019, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.89-2021, SEC.6; P.L.236-2023, SEC.3.