Effective - 28 Aug 2018
620.2455. Prioritization of applications — ranking of applicants, system used. — 1. The department of economic development shall give first priority to grant applications that serve unserved areas.
2. The department of economic development shall give secondary priority to grant applications that demonstrate the ability to receive matching funds that serve unserved areas, whether such matching funds are government funds or other funds.
3. The department shall give third priority to grant applications that serve underserved areas.
4. The department of economic development shall use a quantitative weighing scheme or scoring system including, at a minimum, the following elements to rank the applications:
(1) Financial, technical, and legal capability of the applicant to deploy and operate broadband internet service;
(2) The number of locations served in the most cost-efficient manner possible considering the project area density;
(3) Available minimum broadband speeds;
(4) Ability of the infrastructure to be scalable to higher broadband internet speeds;
(5) Commitment of the applicant to fund at least fifty percent of the project from private sources;
(6) Length of time the provider has been operating broadband internet services in the state;
(7) The offering of new or substantially upgraded broadband internet service to important community institutions including, but not limited to, libraries, educational institutions, public safety facilities, and health care facilities;
(8) The offering of service to economically distressed areas of the state, as measured by indices of unemployment, poverty, or population loss that are significantly greater than the statewide average;
(9) The ability to provide technical support and training to residents, businesses, and institutions in the community of the proposed project to utilize broadband internet service;
(10) Plans to actively promote the adoption of the newly available broadband internet service in the community; and
(11) Strong support for the proposed project from citizens, businesses, and institutions in the community.
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(L. 2018 H.B. 1456 merged with H.B. 1872)
Sunset date 6-30-27
Termination date 9-01-28