The West Virginia Commerce Department hired a consulting firm to...
The West Virginia Commerce Department hired a consulting firm to review the spending of a $126 million Broadband Technology Opportunities Program fund, the agency said. ICF International will analyze the state’s existing broadband infrastructure and provide recommendations to the agency…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
and the governor’s office. The U.S. Commerce Department, which funds BTOP, was concerned that some high-powered Internet routers designed to serve large corporations, universities and medical centers were installed in small libraries, elementary schools and health clinics instead. The review is expected to include a financial audit. The BTOP project, designed to connect schools and other public facilities, has sparked questions from the state’s education officials about its progress and lack of communication (CD Nov 1 p6). A West Virginia BTOP project coordinator had no comment. The West Virginia project is generally on track, and the costs incurred have been allowable expenses in line with the grant rules and project scope, the NTIA said. The agency found the proposed technology approach reasonable when reviewing the application, it said. The project’s routers were competitively bid and awarded to the lowest bidder, consistent with federal grants procurement standards, it said.