Sec. 9. (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 twenty-five (25) 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 twenty-five (25) 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 twenty-five (25) 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 Internet web site 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 Internet web site 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 Internet web site 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 Internet web site 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 Internet web site. The office is not required to allow the submission of new applications in response to any amended application by the original broadband service provider.
As added by P.L.189-2019, SEC.7. Amended by P.L.89-2021, SEC.6.
Structure Indiana Code
Title 4. State Offices and Administration
Article 4. Lieutenant Governor
Chapter 38.5. Broadband Grants for Rural Areas
4-4-38.5-2. "Eligible Broadband Project"
4-4-38.5-3. "Eligible Broadband Service"
4-4-38.5-4. "Eligible Broadband Service Provider"
4-4-38.5-4.5. "Eligible Student"
4-4-38.5-5.6. "Minimum Broadband Internet"
4-4-38.5-6.2. "Public School Corporation"
4-4-38.5-7.1. "Rural Health Clinic"
4-4-38.5-8.5. Challenge Process
4-4-38.5-11. Rural Broadband Fund
4-4-38.5-14. Confidential or Proprietary Business Information; Nondisclosure