The Washington State Department of Commerce State Broadband Office (WSBO) is accepting applications for Broadband infrastructure grants.
Donor Name: Washington State Department of Commerce
State: Washington
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/17/2023
Size of the Grant: $12 million
Details:
Projects must focus on households and businesses without access to broadband and those with connections that do not provide minimally acceptable speeds.
WSBO Goals
It is a goal of the state of Washington that:
- By 2026, all communities have access to at least 1 Gbps symmetrical broadband service at anchor institutions like schools, hospitals, libraries, and government buildings
- By 2028, all businesses and residences have access to at least one provider of broadband with speeds of 150 Mbps symmetrical.
Funding Information
- There are approximately $120 million available in federal ARPA Capital grant funding. Awards are determined through a competitive process.
- The maximum amount of funding the WSBO may award is $12 million per project.
Eligible Projects
- “Broadband Infrastructure Projects” are eligible for funding under ARPA Capital if the infrastructure is designed to deliver, upon project completion, service that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical download and upload speeds of 100 Mbps. If it would be impracticable, because of geography, topography or excessive cost, the Project must be designed so that it reliably meets or exceeds 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload speeds and be scalable to a minimum of 100 Mbps symmetrical.
- Applicants are to focus on projects that achieve last-mile connections. “Last mile infrastructure” means broadband infrastructure that serves as the final connection from a broadband service provider’s network to the end-user’s on- premises telecommunications equipment.
- Middle-mile projects are eligible, and are encouraged to have commitments in place to support new and/or improved last-mile service.
- Applicants are also encouraged to prioritize investments in fiber-optic infrastructure where feasible, as such advanced technology better supports future needs.
- ARPA Capital awards are to assist in the acquisition, installation and construction of last mile infrastructure that supports broadband services, and to assist in strategic planning for deploying broadband service in unserved areas.
- In selecting an area to be served by a project, applicants are required to avoid investing in business and residential locations that have existing service or a verifiable agreement to build reliable wireline service with minimum speeds of 100 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload, scalable to150 Mbps symmetrical by 2028. Anchor institutions need to receive at least 1 Gbps symmetrical broadband service by 2026.
Eligibility Criteria
- Units of local government, including but not limited to ports and public utility districts
- Federally recognized tribes
- Nonprofit organizations
- Nonprofit cooperative organizations
- Multiparty entities comprised of a combination of public entity members or private entity members. A multiparty entity cannot be solely comprised of private entities.
For more information, visit Broadband Infrastructure Grants.
