Notice of Funding Availability #007 (Expired)

NOTE: The application window is now closed.

OFFICIAL NOTICE. January 4, 2022. The Office has announced the Notice of Intent to Award for Notice of Funding Availability #007, awarding $210,454,219.13 in federal American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds for broadband expansion in Iowa. On October 25, 2021, the Office issued Notice of Funding Availability #007 which opened the Application Acceptance Window for this NOFA. 
Download the Notice of Intent To Award for NOFA #007

Pre-Application Conference

On October 14, 2021, the Office held a Pre-Application Conference to discuss a high-level view of the program, including the requirements prescribed by this NOFA. Participants were given an opportunity to ask questions at this time. Video recordings of the pre-application conference will be posted in the Instructional Videos For Applicants section below. The posting will occur the week of October 25, 2021.

Purpose

The purpose of this NOFA is to solicit Applications from Communications Service Providers for Broadband Infrastructure Projects that will have the greatest overall effect of reducing or eliminating Unserved or Underserved Areas in the State through the installation of Broadband Infrastructure. Funds for this grant round have been allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (“CSLFRF”) to provide a substantial infusion of resources to help turn the tide on the pandemic, address its economic fallout, and lay the foundation for a strong and equitable recovery.

Program Design

The funds available for Award under this NOFA is up to $200,000,000 and shall be distributed to Applicants proposing projects that will Facilitate Broadband at 100/100 or faster, or 100/20 or faster in Eligible Service Areas. The total amount of CLSFRF that may be requested may not exceed 60% of the actual or originally estimated (whichever is less) Total Project Costs. Note: For this NOFA, the Office is also pre-publishing the scoring rubric for NOFA #007 including the weights to be applied to each scored category. Refer to the Scoring Rubric in the Project Documentation section for more information concerning weights assigned to each scored category. Applicants seeking higher scores, and thus increasing the likelihood of receiving awarded funds, are encouraged to pay attention to proposed weighting in designing their Projects.

Applications must be designed to provide last-mile broadband service to homes, schools, and businesses in unserved and underserved areas as defined in 35 C.F.R. § 35.1 (“Unserved and Underserved Households and Businesses”) that: (1) reliably meets or exceeds 100/100 Broadband; or (2) in cases where it is not practicable, because of the excessive cost of the project or geography or topography of the area to be served by the project, to provide 100/100 Broadband that reliably meets or exceeds 100/20 Broadband. Applications shall define a single Project proposing a buildout speed of 100/100 Broadband or faster or 100/20 Broadband or faster, but not both within the same Project.

For Wireless Projects, the proposed wireless network backhaul must be “future proof,” meaning that the network backhaul is capable of Facilitating 100/100 or 100/20, whichever is applicable, to every home, school, and business within the Project Area upon Project Completion.

Projects proposing to Facilitate 100/20 Broadband must be scalable to 100/100 within 3 years of the Project Completion date.

Eligible Service Areas have been determined using Map V4 with an additional data layer to identify Census Blocks within which no provider offers wireline service at speeds greater than or equal to 25/3 Broadband consistent with the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Requirements established by the U.S. Department of Treasury. Eligible Service Areas will be published by the Office on October 14, 2021 on this website.

The scoring rubric has been posted in conjunction with the pre-issuance of the NOFA (see Program Documentation) to allow Applicants to account for the points allotted to each category when determining their Project area(s).

Schedule of Important Dates

The timeline for Notice of Funding Availability #007 including steps and dates, are described below (all dates are subject to change):

Applications Received

188 applications were deemed submitted in response to NOFA #007. 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 award from the Office pursuant to the Notice of Intent To Award for this opportunity upon final issuance, this column will be marked as "Awarded."

Program Documentation

Information concerning the grant application process, including all application materials, agreements, and program information are provided below. All Applications to this NOFA are required to be submitted electronically through the Iowa Grants System, as part of Funding Opportunity #427424. Note: Exhibits not listed here will be provided at a later time, but not later than the opening of the Application Acceptance Window on October 25, 2021. Some exhibits may be updated following the pre-publication. Updates to program documentation may be identified through amendments issued by the Office or otherwise noted in the list below. 

• Notice of Intent to Award for NOFA #007 
• Addendum #3 to NOFA #007
• Addendum #2 to NOFA #007 - Written Responses to Questions
• Addendum #1 to NOFA #007 - Scoring Rubric
• Exhibit A - Notice of Funding Availability 
• Broadband Grants Core Application, including
  • Exhibit B - Project Worksheet
  • Exhibit C - CSLFRF Form
  • Exhibit D - Budget Plan
  • Exhibit D.1 - Outside ESA (Eligible Service Area) Infrastructure Worksheet
• Exhibit E - Grant Agreement
• Exhibit F - Certification, Authorization, and Release of Information
• Exhibit G - Request for Confidentiality - Form 22
• Exhibit H - Application Checklist
• Exhibit I - Wireless Project Design Worksheet
• Exhibit J - Iowa Grants Registration and Application Instructions
• Exhibit K - Project Selection and Data Export/Import Instructions
• Exhibit L - Product Pricing Form
• NOFA #007 Grants Management Policies and Procedures Guide  

Instructional Videos for Applicants

The following instructional videos have been published for Applicants who are interested in receiving additional information about the application process under this NOFA. Note: The links below redirect users to YouTube.

• NOFA #007 Pre-Application Conference (full video)
  • Meeting Purpose and Timeline
  • Review of Broadband Map V4
  • Review of NOFA #007 and CSLFRF
  • Review of Core Application
  • Review of Application Materials
  • Review of Request for Confidentiality
  • Technical Assistance Resources

Map of Awarded Areas

See below for a map of awarded areas under NOFA #006 and NOFA #007.

Download NOFA #007 Project Award Areas

Open Map of Awards In New Window