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The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for an initial $120 million was published Monday, with questions being taken until March 17. The application period is listed as March 6 through May 5. Award announcements are expected by fall.
The BOOT program is a competitive grant application program overseen by the state’s Broadband Development Office (BDO) and aims to connect 152,000 homes and businesses through last-mile broadband infrastructure.
This offering is for a portion of $363.8 million allocated from the federal Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund. All funds will be distributed through the BDO.
To be considered for grants, proposed projects must:
- Be located in designated eligible areas (unserved, underserved).
- Invest capital assets designed to directly enable work, education and health monitoring.
- Address critical community needs, including those made apparent during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
The BDO’s goals for ubiquitous Internet for Texans include opportunities to have a connected workforce, distance education options and telehealth for underserved and unserved areas as determined by the state’s broadband map. Unserved areas don’t have access to broadband; underserved lack broadband service of more than 100Mbps/20Mbps.
The detailed Request for Applications (RFA) is numbered BDO-NOFA-001. The BDO sits within the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (CPA), and they post all opportunities at the SmartBuy site. The agency search number is 304.
Those seeking a deep dive into the rules and governance of BDO grant applications and awards can find a discussion and final rules in the Feb. 10 edition of theTexas Register.
