Arkansas to get $2.1 million to map broadband access (Updated)

Arkansas will get $2.1 million in federal stimulus dollars to map broadband access and to help expand broadband coverage in Arkansas.

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Monday (Oct. 26) announced that Arkansas, the District of Columbia and New York would see their programs funded in what is essentially the third round of funding announcements related to the broadband program.

Specifically, the NTIA awarded Connect Arkansas roughly  $1.6 million for broadband data collection and mapping activities over a two-year period, and almost $500,000 for broadband planning activities over a 5-year period for the state. Connect Arkansas, the designated entity for the state of Arkansas, is a private nonprofit organization based in that state and managed by Little Rock-based Arkansas Capital Corp.

Updated info: C. Sam Walls III, with the Arkansas Capital Corp., said the federal funds will help complete what has been an almost 2-year program to create a broadband map of Arkansas. Telecom service providers have provided data, and that data is reconciled with physical surveys, polling of Arkansans and other methods of independent data verification, Walls said.

And although a map show the reach of a particular technology is not static, the federal funds will create a baseline map and the methodology required to make timely updates.

Walls said an added benefit will be to provide Arkansans an independent map of which telecom providers cover what areas and with what speeds.

“You create, ultimately, a map to help consumers to get online,” Walls explained.

Arkansas is ahead of most states in the mapping effort, and that is why the state is one of the early NTIA broadband money recipients.

“That is a testament to what Connect Arkansas has been able to do, because they (NTIA) wanted to make sure the money was used well,” Walls said. “We easily have a 2- to 3-year head start over most states on this (mapping). You know, Arkansas gets pegged for being last on a lot of things, but on this, we are out front … and I think that’s why you are seeing us get this early.”

Financial support from Gov. Mike Beebe was important in allowing Arkansas to be ahead of most states in the broadband mapping effort, Walls added.

Arkansas also has applied for two other NTIA grants (sustainable broadband adoption and broadband public access), Walls said.

Following are the key details of the NTIA broadband program.
• The State Broadband Data and Development Grant Program is a matching grant program that implements the joint purposes of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the Broadband Data Improvement Act (BDIA).

• The program will provide grants to assist states or their designees in gathering and verifying state-specific data on the availability, speed,  location and technology type of broadband services.

• The data they collect and compile will also be used to develop publicly available state-wide broadband maps and to inform the comprehensive, interactive, and searchable national broadband map that NTIA is required by the Recovery Act to create and make publicly available by Feb. 17, 2011.

• The national broadband map will publicly display the geographic areas where broadband service is available; the technology used to provide the service; the speeds of the service; and broadband service availability at public schools, libraries, hospitals, colleges, universities, and public buildings. The national map will also be searchable by address and show the broadband providers offering service in the corresponding census block or street segment.

• Awardees are required to contribute at least 20 percent non-federal matching funds toward project costs.

The NTIA announced the first grant winners Oct. 5, with California ($2.3 million), Indiana ($1.3 million), North Carolina ($2 million) and Vermont ($1.2 million) receiving funds. On Oct. 23, the NTIA issued a $1.4 million grant to West Virginia

"Broadband will bring many benefits to the Nation, such as job creation and innovation, but these benefits have been delayed by the lack of comprehensive, reliable data on the availability of broadband service," Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling said in a statement "This program addresses an important need and will provide a valuable tool in bringing broadband and jobs to more Americans."

Link here for the complete NTIA press release.