Treasury Expands Broadband Eligibility for Rescue Plan
Treasury’s final rule on broadband projects’ eligibility for the $350 billion in state and local funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act backtracks from earlier proposed restrictions that would have allowed it only in areas without 25/3 Mbps (see…
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2105100060), the department and telecom lawyers said. The earlier proposed rules got mixed reaction (see 2107160063). The “final rule expands eligible areas for investment by requiring recipients to invest in projects designed to provide service to households and businesses with an identified need for additional broadband infrastructure investment, which would include but not be limited to a lack of broadband service reliably delivering certain speeds,” Treasury said in the final rule submitted to the Federal Register. Potential acceptable “examples of need include lack of access to a connection that reliably meets or exceeds symmetrical 100 Mbps download and upload speeds, lack of affordable access to broadband service, or lack of reliable broadband service.” Treasury added a requirement that recipients participate in the FCC affordable connectivity program or provide access to comparably affordable service (see 2201050043). The final rule “continues to encourage recipients to prioritize support for broadband networks owned, operated by, or affiliated with local governments, nonprofits, and cooperatives.” It maintains language requiring projects to be capable of 100 Mbps symmetrical and 100/20 Mbps where symmetrical isn’t practical due to topography The rule takes effect April 1.