For many years counties have expressed interest in expanding broadband access to their residents. Following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) earlier this year, substantial resources are available for counties to invest in broadband infrastructure. CCAO recently provided the following information for counties to consider as they explore broadband expansion strategies, particularly in relation to the state broadband expansion program. These considerations apply not only to counties, but any local government—city, village, township—considering investing ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery dollars in broadband projects.
Key points include:
Conduct competitive bidding in compliance with Federal procurement standards; or Designate the ISP as a sub-recipient which triggers Federal compliance and reporting requirements on both parties.
Ensure the project meets the ARPA specificed minimum service of 100 Mbps download and 100 Mbps upload. In cases where it is impracticable due to geography, topography, or financial cost to meet those standards, projects must reliably deliver at least 100 Mbps download speed, at least 20 Mbps upload speed, and be scalable to a minimum of 100 Mbps download speed and 100 Mbps upload speed.