Empower Rural Iowa Broadband Grant Program Notice of Funding Availability #008

• Purpose
• Program Design
• Schedule of Important Dates
• Applications Received
• Program Documentation
• Instructional Videos for Applicants
• Project Location Challenge Form (Posted as of September 26, 2023)

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - 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 Eligible Unserved or Underserved Locations in the State through the installation of Broadband Infrastructure. Funds for this grant round have been allocated from the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) Capital Projects Fund ("CPF") 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

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - Program Design

The funds available for Award under this NOFA is up to $148,960,000 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 Locations. The total amount of CPF that may be requested may not exceed 80% of the actual or originally estimated (whichever is less) Total Project Costs.

The Office is seeking proposals from Responsible Applicants to Facilitate broadband service to Eligible Service Locations within the State of Iowa by no later than September 30, 2026. Applications submitted to this NOFA must be designed to provide last-mile broadband service to Eligible Service Locations 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 Broadband that reliably meets or exceeds 100/20 Broadband. However, 100/20 Broadband Projects must be scalable to 100/100 Broadband within three years of the Project Completion date.

Eligible Service Locations have been determined using Map V5 as locations to which no provider offers service at speeds greater than or equal to 100/20 Broadband consistent with the CPF Guidance established by the U.S. Department of Treasury. The Eligible Service Locations must not have been previously awarded Federal or State broadband incentives for build out greater than 100/20 Broadband.

The scoring rubric has been posted in conjunction with the pre-issuance of the NOFA (see Exhibit A Section 3.2 Scoring Rubric) to allow Applicants to account for the points allotted to each category when determining their Project area(s).

Broadband Intervention Zones

This NOFA gives special consideration to Broadband Intervention Zones (“Zones”) across the State of Iowa. These Zones were established under Invitation to Qualify (“ITQ”) #001, which permitted communities across the State of Iowa to identify areas of critical need for broadband investment. Until now, all NOFA offerings allowed broadband providers to select where they wanted to build based on available OCIO mapping data that identified areas lacking broadband. Although this process has resulted in significant buildout throughout the state, there remains a perception that certain areas in the State perpetually go unserved for a variety of reasons. The ITQ attempted to address this perceived problem by affording communities an opportunity to identify geographic areas of concern that both need access to Broadband and are motivated to attract Broadband providers to the area. Broadband Intervention Zones identified through the ITQ process are now being used to prioritize NOFA #008 Broadband application awards.

Ninety-six Zones have been identified. Within each of these Zones, providers that agree to build to 80% or more of the Eligible Service Locations within any Zone will receive additional points and higher levels of state matching funds under this NOFA.  Providers are strongly encouraged to examine the Zones as set forth within the Project Selection Tool.

Applications that propose to Facilitate broadband services to at least 80% of Eligible Service Locations within any Zone will rank higher under this NOFA than any Application that does not.

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - Schedule of Important Dates

The timeline for Notice of Funding Availability #008 including steps and dates, are described below (all dates are subject to change):

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - Applications Recieved

91 applications were deemed submitted in response to NOFA #008. The public, redacted versions of each applications are provided below. In the Application column, click the link to download a zip file containing the public version of that application.

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - 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 #512252. 

• Exhibit A - Notice of Funding Availability (Updated as of July 14, 2023)
  • Addendum #1 to NOFA #008 - Written Responses to Questions (Posted as of July 14, 2023)
• Broadband Grants Core Application (Updated as of July 14, 2023), including
  • Exhibit B - Project Worksheet 
  • Exhibit C - CPF Forms 
  • Exhibit D - Budget Plan 
• Exhibit E - Grant Agreement
• Exhibit F - Certification, Authorization, and Release of Information (Updated as of July 14, 2023)
• 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 (Posted as of July 14, 2023)
• Exhibit K - Project Selection and Data Export/Import Instructions (Updated as of July 14, 2023)
• Exhibit L - High Cost Project Worksheet (coming soon)
• Exhibit M - Large Project Worksheet (coming soon)
• Exhibit N - Project Location Challenge Form (Posted as of September 26, 2023)
• NOFA #008 Grants Management Policies and Procedures Guide (coming soon) 
• Invitation to Qualify #001 - Broadband Intervention Zones

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - 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 8 Pre-Application Conference
  • NOFA 8 Pre-Application Conference Slides
• NOFA 8 Core Application Tutorial Updated 7/20/23

Notice of Funding Availability #008 - Project Location Challenge Form (Posted as of September 26, 2023)

For service that is currently being facilitated to any Eligible Service Location (ESL) associated with a submitted Application to this NOFA, the Office is posting an Attestation form which permits third parties to certify to the Office that they have previously completed buildout that should be excised from an Awarded Project Area. This information may be used by the Office to modify awarded applications to remove any existing buildout prior to the execution of the grant agreement.

The form may not be submitted by the applicant if they were not the provider completing the buildout. The form must be submitted by the communications service provider who completed the buildout in the awarded area.

To submit ESLs where you have built service since the "as-of" date (August 2, 2022) of Broadband Map V5, complete both tabs of this form and create a PDF file of evidence to support your claim. ONLY those ESLs that fall within another Applicant's project area will be accepted. Do not send ESLs that are not included within any Applicant's NOFA 8 Project Area.

Download Exhibit N Project Location Challenge Form 

Email the completed Excel form and the Evidence PDF to ociogrants@iowa.gov with "NOFA 008 Project Location Challenge" in the subject line.  Project Location Challenge Form is due to the Office by October 3, 2023.

For providers claiming to facilitate service to one or more ESL(s), only the following will be sufficient evidence of build out:
1. The FCC Broadband Data Collection (BDC) availability report as submitted to the FCC "as-of" June 30th, 2023, or
2. The FCC BDC availability report that will be submitted to the FCC and completed by December 31, 2023 and the Network As-Built Plan.

NOTE: Include ONLY locations to which service is being provided as of the date of this Attestation. Do not include planned buildout or locations to which service is not available to the location as of the date of the Attestation. Do not send ESLs that are outside of an Applicant's NOFA 8 Project Area.

Reference 6.1 Fixed Broadband Availability Location Lists at https://us-fcc.app.box.com/v/bdc-availability-spec 

Open NOFA #008 Map Locations In A New Window